corundum, inclusions.5, gems

Lea continues his microscopic investigation of minute crystals enclosed within minerals, adding observations to those reported in his earlier 1869 paper. He describes the forms and occurrence of microscopic crystalline inclusions and considers their identification and relationship to their host minerals. Particular attention is given to the value of careful microscopic examination for recognizing well-developed crystal forms that are invisible or indistinct to the unaided eye. The study is of historical gemological interest as an early investigation of mineral inclusions by microscopy, anticipating the later importance of internal features for gemstone identification and for interpreting mineral growth and formation.

gems, jade, Fischer-Book, turquoise, Sinai

Brugsch recounts his journey through the Sinai Peninsula to the ancient turquoise-mining district of Wadi Maghara and Serabit el-Khadim, combining travel observations with descriptions of the archaeological remains and inscriptions encountered there. Of particular gemological importance is his account of the Sinai turquoise mines, including the geological setting, ancient workings, extraction of turquoise, and evidence for Egyptian mining expeditions. He discusses the hieroglyphic inscriptions and reliefs left by pharaonic expeditions and their value for establishing the antiquity and organization of turquoise exploitation in Sinai. The work provides an important nineteenth-century eyewitness account of one of the world’s oldest documented gemstone-mining regions and links the physical remains of turquoise extraction with contemporary understanding of ancient Egyptian history and epigraphy.

gems, history of gemology, glyptic, engraved gems, chalcedony, quartz, jasper, glyptic

Sinkankas: This work represents a second stage of fractionation from its immediate predecessor, The Natural History, Ancient and Modern, of 1865. In the preface, King justifies this division by explaining that the present volume, omitting the precious," focuses exclusively on the commoner species of decorative minerals, using the term "Gems" for lack of a more precise term. Presented in alphabetical order, the work details 46 gem materials—many retaining their ancient names and, in some cases, remaining uncertainly identified—with King offering his reasoning for the identifications he supports. In addition to these entries, the volume includes a contribution on pastes and a description of the illustrations of engraved gems. The entire text is engaging and enriched with new material King uncovered since the publication of the earlier treatise."

gems, jade, Fischer-Book, Polynesia, Tahiti, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Maori

Angas presents a popular survey of the geography, inhabitants, natural history, customs, and products of the Pacific islands, drawing upon contemporary travel accounts and his own experience in the region. Of particular gemological and ethnographic interest is his discussion of New Zealand pounamu or greenstone, which he describes as a highly valued material employed by Māori for weapons and ornaments. He notes its use for mere and hei-tiki, the laborious methods required to shape and polish the exceptionally tough stone, and the importance attached to individual objects, which could be preserved and handed down as valued possessions. The account provides a useful nineteenth-century description of Māori nephrite working and the cultural value of pounamu at a time when traditional practices were undergoing rapid change.

gems, engraved gems, glyptic

Sinkankas: This is King's first book publication on a subject that he took up early in his career and pursued with single-minded persistence throughout his life. As a first effort, it leaves much to be desired, not because of neglect to provide a plethora of information, which is still very useful, but as Vinet, 1663, notes, it is very difficult to analyze. Faced with so much data uncovered in his solitary studies at Cambridge he crammed as much as he could within the covers of a single volume, but failed to organize it well with the result that the text is often confusing to the reader. The introduction cites the views of Goethe on the usefulness of study of antique engraved gems and also provides a short history of the glyptic art. The five engraved plates, lauded by Vinet for their quality and fidelity to the originals, are inserted after the table of contents and explained in accompanying text, with many more single gems in wood engravings sprinkled throughout the text or used as head- or tailpieces. The first section of text describes the materials of gems, with notes on minerals and rocks used and possible sources of rough. There is some useful gemological information here, much of it based on King's researches into Pliny's Natural History, and other ancient sources. Here too are found remarks on pastes, gem impressions, and notes on forms of gems. The second section treats art as displayed in gems, beginning with tests of antiquity and the instruments used in engraving, the latter obviously useful in determining age. Next are essays on styles, symbolism, and subjects upon gems as assigned to various cultures during various periods. In this section also appear such diverse topical discussions as on rings, flexible glass," names of artists, coin-dies, famous collections, and other bits and pieces of knowledge that should have been more carefully organized and presented to the reader. The third section treats the subjects depicted upon gems, while the last section, again a catch-~ considers mystic virtues of gems, and provides his own translation into English of Marbodeus' celebrated poem on gemstones, p 391-417, which is accompanied by another translation of parts of Orpheus' poem on stones, p 420-26, passim, the last being interspersed with short descriptions of gemstones as given in Camillus Leonardus' Speculum Lapidum, p 418–28, passim. The final part of this section is a commentary on books concerning engraved gems but treating only a few of the most important. King later published a much larger bibliography in his Antique Gems and Rings, see below. The appendix again treats a variety of topics, among them, remarks on the tools of the ancient engraver, the Sassanian alphabet, and notes on statements made previously in the text. The encyclopedic, albeit confused nature of this work moved A Furtwangler, Die antiken Gemmen, vol 3,433, to be less than kind in his review, noting the "confusion" in this and subsequent works by King, and voicing the opinion that from this initial treatise sprang all the others that appeared in the following decade, eg, his The Natural History, Ancient and Modern of Precious Stones, etc, 1865, which grew from his section on gemstones, The Gnostics and Their Remains, 1864, 1887, which emerged from his section on mystical properties of gemstones, and so on. Furtwangler notes other defects in this and subsequent King books, summarizing them all as being "dilettante" in character, crammed with unplanned information, but still containing much that is worthwhile. Zazoffs, Gemmensammler, however, state that Furtwangler went "too far" in his criticism. Despite these adverse remarks it remains true that King, more than anyone else, was the first English writer to provide a major fund of information, all in one place, on engraved gems. He was responsible in large measure for arousing interest in this branch of ancient art among the people of Great Britain and America. Rev Edinburgh Rev, Oct 1966, 511–552."

gems, jade, Fischer-Book

Mortillet’s Matériaux pour l’Histoire Positive et Philosophique de l’Homme is an early prehistoric and anthropological publication devoted to archaeological discoveries, human antiquity, prehistoric industries, and the material evidence for early peoples. Of particular gemological interest is the discussion of jade on p. 244, where nephrite implements from European prehistoric contexts are considered in connection with the problem of the geographical origin of their raw material. Such finds, especially polished nephrite axes from Swiss lake dwellings, contributed to the developing nineteenth-century debate over whether European prehistoric jade was obtained from indigenous sources or introduced through long-distance exchange with Asia. The publication provides contemporary evidence for the emergence of jade provenance as an important archaeological and mineralogical question.

gems, color theory, color, color science

Chevreul presents a practical application of his theories of color and simultaneous contrast to the industrial and decorative arts, using chromatic circles to demonstrate the relationships between hues, their mixtures, harmonies, and contrasts. Building upon his earlier researches on color perception, he shows how colors may be systematically arranged and compared and how their appearance changes according to adjacent colors and differences in tone and saturation. The accompanying colored plates provide a visual system for selecting and coordinating colors in textiles, painting, decoration, and other manufactured objects. Although not specifically concerned with gemstones, the work is relevant to gemology through its systematic treatment of color description, comparison, and perception—particularly the influence of surrounding colors on apparent hue—and forms part of the nineteenth-century development of scientific approaches to color that would later become fundamental to gemstone description and grading.

corundum, Thailand.12, gems

Mouhot’s posthumously published account records his travels through Siam, Cambodia, and Laos between 1858 and 1860, combining personal narrative with observations on geography, natural history, peoples, customs, commerce, and antiquities. Particularly celebrated are his descriptions and illustrations of the monuments of Angkor, which played an important role in bringing the Khmer ruins to wider European attention. Of gemological interest are observations on precious materials, jewelry and personal ornament, mineral resources, and the use of precious stones and pearls in royal and religious contexts; at Angkor, for example, he describes figures represented with elaborate headdresses apparently composed of precious stones, pearls, gold, and silver. The work also contains extensive natural-history observations and, in the second volume, scientific appendices describing specimens collected during his journeys. Published after Mouhot’s death near Luang Prabang in 1861 and prepared from his journals and papers by his brother Charles, the two-volume work is an important firsthand source for the natural history and material culture of mainland Southeast Asia in the mid-nineteenth century.

gems, jade, Fischer-Book

Fischer discusses methods for testing minerals for the presence of water, particularly the water released when specimens are heated. He considers the practical difficulties of distinguishing structurally or chemically bound water from moisture and describes procedures for detecting the small quantities evolved from mineral samples. The note reflects the increasing importance of chemical and blowpipe tests in nineteenth-century mineral identification and analysis. Of relevance to gemology and Fischer’s later research on jade and prehistoric stone implements, determination of water content provided an additional means of characterizing minerals and distinguishing superficially similar substances. The paper is a brief contribution to analytical mineralogy rather than a study devoted specifically to gemstones.

corundum, history.1, gems, jade, Fischer-Book

Del Sotto publishes and studies a fourteenth-century French lapidary, providing a nineteenth-century edition of a medieval text devoted to precious stones and the properties traditionally attributed to them. The lapidary describes numerous stones, their names, appearance, supposed geographical origins, and methods of recognition, together with the medicinal, protective, magical, and astrological virtues they were believed to possess. As was characteristic of medieval lapidary literature, empirical observations concerning minerals are interwoven with traditions inherited from classical, biblical, Arabic, and earlier medieval authorities. The volume is particularly valuable for the history of gemology because it preserves medieval gemstone nomenclature and beliefs and illustrates how precious stones were understood before the development of modern mineralogical classification. Del Sotto’s edition also provides a useful philological source for tracing the transmission and changing meanings of European gemstone names.