DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1399#0014
TLATE 203.
THE DEVONSHIRE GEMS,
SET BY ME. C. F. HANCOCK, LONDON.
f I ^HERE is no art which, at the present day, is so little in request as that of engraving and
-*- carving precious stones, nor does the study of glyptics receive that attention it merits.
The extent to which the art was in vogue amongst the ancients, and the perfection to which it
was brought by the Greeks, is something wonderful. We have no hesitation in saying that some
of the very finest specimens of high art produced by that extraordinary race are to be found in
the small compass of personal ornaments. The collection formed by William Cavendish, third
Duke of Devonshire, in the last century, consists of about 400 intaglios and cameos, 88 of which
have gone to form the pa/rwre made by Mr. Hancock for the Countess of Granville, to wear at the
coronation of the present Emperor of Russia at Moscow. Mr. Hancock was awarded a prize
medal for his magnificent collection of jewellery, diamonds, and other precious stones, and his
setting of the Devonshire gems was specially noticed by the International Jury of Class 33. (For
specimens of his work in silver, &c, the reader is referred to Plates 57 and 232.)
The present suite consists of a diadem, coronet, stomacher, jewelled bandeau, necklace, comb,
and bracelet, set in gold, and richly enamelled in the Renaissance style. In its present state this
parure has been valued at upwards of £20,000. We do not propose to describe every separate
stone, but will give a brief notice of some of the most remarkable pieces which constitute the set.
In the Greek style, a cameo with a head of Leander on a dark ground, and an onyx-cameo repre-
senting a faun dancing an infant faun on his foot; — a fine Oriental red-sard intaglio, representing
Diomed stealing the Palladium from the temple of Minerva at Troy, signed with the artist's name
in Greek characters: " Duiscondus; "—a cameo with a half-length figure of Clotho {x'km^siv, to
spin), the youngest of the three Fates, supposed to preside over the moment of birth (she is re-
presented with a distaff, spinning the thread of life); — a double cameo forming the centre of the
diadem, the antique portion of which is very remarkable, from the manner in which the artist has
taken advantage of the stone to produce his effects. Of the Roman period are to be noticed,— a
cameo representing a Roman emperor enthroned, by the side of a veiled female presenting a sword
to a warrior (this fine cameo is probably the work of Greek artists in Rome); — a cameo with the
head of the emperor Commodus; and several fine onyx-cameos, lapis lazuli, and garnet intaglios; — a
most remarkable Oriental amethyst intaglio engraved with the bust of a Persian king of the
Sassanide dynasty; and several remarkable pieces of the Renaissance period; amongst which are
portraits of Edward VI. of England (on sardonyx), Henry VIII. and his three children, Edward,
Mary, and Elizabeth; — a cameo representing Queen Elizabeth, ascribed to Julien de Fontenay,
better known as " Coldore; " and, finally, another most interesting cameo of the Virgin Queen,
worn by her as a locket, which contained also water-colour miniatures of herself and the Earl of
Leicester, painted and mounted by the celebrated miniaturist, goldsmith, and sculptor Nicholas
Hilliard.
All these gems are remarkable for artistic merit; and that the noble collector spared no expense
in obtaining the best that could be found, is proved by the fact that for one fragment inscribed
with the name of the Greek sculptor Apollonides, he paid the large sum of one thousand pounds.
We find it stated in the catalogue of stones which form this set, that the cameo of Queen Elizabeth
is undoubtedly the work of Valerio Vicentino; but this certainly is an error, originating
with Horace Walpole, who, in his "Anecdotes of Painting in England," very dogmatically asserts
that Valerio was in England during her reign, and executed several fine pieces, notwithstanding
the fact that Valerio Belli, or Valerio Vicentino, died in the year 1546, as recorded by Vasari,
twelve years before Elizabeth's coming to the throne. There are several other exquisitely-carved
cameos of Henry VIII. and Queen Elizabeth, in the possession of Her Majesty the Queen,
H. Hawkins, Esq., and others, which appear to be all by the same hand, and are executed on
the finest Oriental onyxes.
This ancient and beautiful art, lost for so long a period, was revived by Giovanni delle Gamiole
and Domenico clei Cammei, whose nicknames sufficiently explain their calling, under the Medici
in the 16th century. As the demand increased, onyxes and other suitable stones became rarer
and dearer, and shells were introduced by Matteo dal Nassaro and Coldore: we need hardly say,
this practice now forms by far the largest branch of trade in the art, which, as practised by the
ancients, may be considered almost extinct.
THE DEVONSHIRE GEMS,
SET BY ME. C. F. HANCOCK, LONDON.
f I ^HERE is no art which, at the present day, is so little in request as that of engraving and
-*- carving precious stones, nor does the study of glyptics receive that attention it merits.
The extent to which the art was in vogue amongst the ancients, and the perfection to which it
was brought by the Greeks, is something wonderful. We have no hesitation in saying that some
of the very finest specimens of high art produced by that extraordinary race are to be found in
the small compass of personal ornaments. The collection formed by William Cavendish, third
Duke of Devonshire, in the last century, consists of about 400 intaglios and cameos, 88 of which
have gone to form the pa/rwre made by Mr. Hancock for the Countess of Granville, to wear at the
coronation of the present Emperor of Russia at Moscow. Mr. Hancock was awarded a prize
medal for his magnificent collection of jewellery, diamonds, and other precious stones, and his
setting of the Devonshire gems was specially noticed by the International Jury of Class 33. (For
specimens of his work in silver, &c, the reader is referred to Plates 57 and 232.)
The present suite consists of a diadem, coronet, stomacher, jewelled bandeau, necklace, comb,
and bracelet, set in gold, and richly enamelled in the Renaissance style. In its present state this
parure has been valued at upwards of £20,000. We do not propose to describe every separate
stone, but will give a brief notice of some of the most remarkable pieces which constitute the set.
In the Greek style, a cameo with a head of Leander on a dark ground, and an onyx-cameo repre-
senting a faun dancing an infant faun on his foot; — a fine Oriental red-sard intaglio, representing
Diomed stealing the Palladium from the temple of Minerva at Troy, signed with the artist's name
in Greek characters: " Duiscondus; "—a cameo with a half-length figure of Clotho {x'km^siv, to
spin), the youngest of the three Fates, supposed to preside over the moment of birth (she is re-
presented with a distaff, spinning the thread of life); — a double cameo forming the centre of the
diadem, the antique portion of which is very remarkable, from the manner in which the artist has
taken advantage of the stone to produce his effects. Of the Roman period are to be noticed,— a
cameo representing a Roman emperor enthroned, by the side of a veiled female presenting a sword
to a warrior (this fine cameo is probably the work of Greek artists in Rome); — a cameo with the
head of the emperor Commodus; and several fine onyx-cameos, lapis lazuli, and garnet intaglios; — a
most remarkable Oriental amethyst intaglio engraved with the bust of a Persian king of the
Sassanide dynasty; and several remarkable pieces of the Renaissance period; amongst which are
portraits of Edward VI. of England (on sardonyx), Henry VIII. and his three children, Edward,
Mary, and Elizabeth; — a cameo representing Queen Elizabeth, ascribed to Julien de Fontenay,
better known as " Coldore; " and, finally, another most interesting cameo of the Virgin Queen,
worn by her as a locket, which contained also water-colour miniatures of herself and the Earl of
Leicester, painted and mounted by the celebrated miniaturist, goldsmith, and sculptor Nicholas
Hilliard.
All these gems are remarkable for artistic merit; and that the noble collector spared no expense
in obtaining the best that could be found, is proved by the fact that for one fragment inscribed
with the name of the Greek sculptor Apollonides, he paid the large sum of one thousand pounds.
We find it stated in the catalogue of stones which form this set, that the cameo of Queen Elizabeth
is undoubtedly the work of Valerio Vicentino; but this certainly is an error, originating
with Horace Walpole, who, in his "Anecdotes of Painting in England," very dogmatically asserts
that Valerio was in England during her reign, and executed several fine pieces, notwithstanding
the fact that Valerio Belli, or Valerio Vicentino, died in the year 1546, as recorded by Vasari,
twelve years before Elizabeth's coming to the throne. There are several other exquisitely-carved
cameos of Henry VIII. and Queen Elizabeth, in the possession of Her Majesty the Queen,
H. Hawkins, Esq., and others, which appear to be all by the same hand, and are executed on
the finest Oriental onyxes.
This ancient and beautiful art, lost for so long a period, was revived by Giovanni delle Gamiole
and Domenico clei Cammei, whose nicknames sufficiently explain their calling, under the Medici
in the 16th century. As the demand increased, onyxes and other suitable stones became rarer
and dearer, and shells were introduced by Matteo dal Nassaro and Coldore: we need hardly say,
this practice now forms by far the largest branch of trade in the art, which, as practised by the
ancients, may be considered almost extinct.