recent auction. Indeed, the sale catalogue was rather euphemistically styled an 'abridgment' from Mr. Story-Maskelyne's work.

The Arundel gems, which form the very kernel of the Marlborough collection, were got together by that famous virtuoso and traveller, Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel (with some aid from John Evelyn), in the first half of the seventeenth century. The earl lived until 1646, and from him the gems passed by regular descent to his greatgrandson, who was the seventh Duke of Norfolk. But the collection. was lost to the house of Howard by falling into the possession of this duke's divorced wife, who, on her death, which happened in 1705, bequeathed it to her second husband, Sir John Germain. His second wife was the Lady Elizabeth Berkeley, who by his will received the Arundel gems and retained them until 1762. Then she gave them as a splendid bridal gift to her great-niece, Lady Mary Beauclerk, on her marriage to Lord Charles Spencer, brother of the third Duke of Marlborough. He, ardent collector as he was, must have deemed himself fortunate indeed when, soon afterwards, by a family arrangement, he acquired the coveted gems from his new sister-in-law. They then numbered about 263, of which Mr. Maskelyne has been able to identify some 235 by the aid of an ancient catalogue written in Latin and Italian and compiled between 1724 and 1727.

A little later on, his Grace was able to acquire another very important accession to his collection in that of the Earl of Bessborough, who, a generation earlier, had accumulated about 200 gems, among which were included two minor gatherings, those of Medina, a Leghorn merchant, and of Lord Chesterfield. These gems were catalogued by the celebrated gem-engraver Natter in 1761, and he probably assisted in selecting and procuring many of them.

The third Duke of Marlborough spared no money or effort in adding still further to his already important cabinet, and about three-sevenths of the whole number dispersed at Christie's last June were drawn together from all quarters by his exertions. He was well assisted by Marchant, the noted English gem-engraver, among other active agents, and several original works and copies by Marchant and Burch were acquired directly from the engravers. These were the latest additions of consequence which were ever made to the collection.

It is a convenient plan to pass in review, separately, the three great divisions of the ducal cabinet-these Arundel, Bessborough, and Marlborough gatherings.

Turning first to the Arundel gems, one is not surprised to find that the Earl of Arundel, so early in the field as a collector, succeeded better than either of the other distinguished connoisseurs in acquiring important antique cameos. Indeed, out of the twentyfive most remarkable for their size and quality which till lately

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graced the Marlborough cabinet, not less than fifteen were among the Arundel gems.

These are the Jupiter Axur (No. 4), on a large nicolo; the graceful ivy-crowned bust of Bacchus (No. 185) and the Ariadne' (No. 196), both on fine sardonyx; the splendid fragment (No. 271) representing Aurora in a biga, one of the finest works in cameo of the entire collection for its technique, and yet so cheaply sold to an American connoisseur for eighty guineas; the other fine Aurora (No. 272), which reached the long price of 350l.; the magnificent, and possibly Greek, head called 'Alexander' (No. 358), not dear at 1657. (another fine gem, very like this, is now in an English private collection); the grand veiled Livia (No. 401), so cheaply sold for 105l.; the Agrippina (No. 416), a spirited portrait on a beautiful sardonyx, for which, though cracked across, the British Museum paid 370.; the Claudius (No. 422), another grand sardonyx, admirably mounted in a lovely enamelled setting of the finest sixteenth-century work, which fetched the enormous price, for a single gem, of 3,750l.; a second fine Claudius (No. 423), on a charming sardonyx, plainly set, which the British Museum had 'for nothing' at 1057.; the Commodus (No. 480), of rude workmanship, but on an especially fine stone, and sold for 320.; the highly finished cameo misnamed 'Commodus' (No. 481), which was the bargain of the sale, to a well-known English collector, for 201.; the Julia Paula (No. 49.5), a very large gem of simple but noble style, the value of which was recognised in the price of 425l. paid for it; and lastly, two other large and rather coarse, but authentic, portrait busts called Julia Mammæa (No. 496) and Julia Masa (No. 557), both of which are executed on fine sardonyx stones.

It is worth while to record some of the prices given for these important cameos, as, although they depended in several cases more on the number of bidders and the length of their purses than on the relative artistic values of the gems, yet, taken together, they indicate the high estimation in which the gems were deservedly held.

But the Arundel series contained other antique cameos of smaller size, though scarcely inferior consequence, in the delightful Ganymede (No. 23), which probably owes its grace to a Greek hand; the exquisitely pretty 'Cupids erecting a trophy' (No. 157); the Bacchante (No. 194); the clever Silenus and Satyr, unfortunately broken (No. 206); the Galba (No. 433); the two Faustinas' in high relief (Nos. 466 and 467); and the very excellent Horses at a Fountain (No. 702), which has the Greek spirit.

Besides these, the Arundel gathering was happily well filled with important cameos of the late Renaissance and Cinque-cento periods, although, from the curious attributions given to many of them, it is probable that the Earl bought some of these believing them to be antique. Such are the beautiful Ceres and Triptolemus

(No. 38); the Perseus (No. 107), a somewhat similar work; the celebrated 'Marriage of Eros and Psyche' (No. 160), so fine that even now some connoisseurs cannot make up their minds to regard it as other than antique, in spite of its thinly veiled modern spirit, the indifferent material in which it is executed, and its distinct resemblance in style to two other good and probably modern cameos (Nos. 220 and 603), both also among Arundelian acquisitions. At any rate, it was sold on its own merits for the large sum of 2,0001.

Then there was the Hercules Bibax (No. 306), which may possibly be antique; four capital cinque-cento bust portraits of ladies, now unfortunately nameless (Nos. 561, 566, 578, and 591); the 'Cleopatra' (No. 579); an excellent minute head of Philip the Second (No. 584); the extraordinary bust of the same king on yellow crystal (No. 587), probably by the famous Alessandro Cesati (it is signed A. F.), large in manner, yet finished to the last degree of perfection, and cheaply sold for 105l.; and finally, although this list is by no means intended to be exclusive, the elaborate Horatius Cocles defending the bridge (No. 595), with its multitude of minute figures, for which a stalwart bidder gave 180 guineas.

Antique intaglios of high merit, on the other hand, were scarce among the Arundel gems. Perhaps the most notable were the Apollos (Nos. 50 and 51), fine Greek works unfortunately much repolished; the charming Clio (No. 65); the large and wellpreserved Ares, of bold but rather rough work (No. 109); the exquisite little Bacchus on a beryl (No. 183), sadly repolished; and the Satyr holding a bunch of grapes (No. 215), cut in a resplendent 'cinnamon' garnet, which when intact must have been perfectly admirable. Nos. 598, 608, and 624 may also be cited. Two other important but very puzzling gems deserve notice. One is the Diomedes and Ulysses seizing the Palladium (No. 341), about which critics are divided, and the last word has not been said. It was sold for 1851. The other is the large Venus Victrix' (No. 122), sold for the low price of 30l., a beautiful intaglio very Greek in style, yet on a stone and in a manner not commonly recognised as likely to be antique. A strong argument in its favour is the difficulty of naming any Renaissance or cinque-cento engraver who could have conceived and executed it. The stone is a brown, striped sard agate. Another Marlborough gem very similar in material and treatment is the Hermes fragment (No. 387), which, not being one of the Arundel acquisitions, is not necessarily so old by one hundred years or more. Yet the nearly parallel arrangement of the finely drawn hairs on the head in the latter gem should indicate antique work. One may also assume it to be anterior to the time of Natter, who, in his treatise on gems, expressly states that he had begun to use a special tool for cutting parallel lines, which before him had only been applied to the engraving of coats of arms. The modelling of the

ear, and the treatment of the eyebrow, indicated by a single fine line, are also extremely antique in character.

Of the Arundelian modern intaglios, the No. 191 is a showy piece of cinque-cento decorative work on a large agate of splendid colour. The St. Michael and Lucifer (No. 645), on a fine cabochon garnet, is very likely by the same artist. An earlier and in some aspects more important work is the tiny pale ruby (No. 583), cleverly engraved despite the extreme hardness of the stone, with a king's head in full face. The setting is a plain gold ring bearing in Gothic letters the inscription tel il nest-suchlike is he.' This curious ring has been identified as the signet of Charles the Fifth of France, yet it looks very like old English work. The price paid for it at the sale was 2601. Another important cameo is the Renaissance Madonna —still retaining its original gold setting--which sold for 120l. The proportion of antique to modern gems in the Arundel series was about 12 to 11, and the cameos and intaglios were nearly equal in number.

Turning now to the Bessborough part of the collection, which, including the Medina and Chesterfield cabinets, numbered in all about 189, so far as they can now be identified, one finds the proportion of antique to modern works to be about 11 to 8. Following so far in the wake of the Earl of Arundel and other great collectors of the preceding century, it was perhaps not possible for Lord Bessborough to acquire so many important large cameos; yet his collection was signalised by the inclusion of the splendid bust of Marciana, the sister of Trajan, in apotheosis (No. 457), carved in a bold, simple style, and in the highest relief, out of a pebble of chalcedony, 3 inches long and high. A fitting pendant to it is the grand phalera (No. 100), with a superb head of Medusa, cut in a similar stone, and in a style as large and simple, but with more of Greek animation. The Arundel cabinet itself could not boast of two finer cameos. Neither of these gems had any setting, and their own merit alone justified the price of 620l. given for the first by the British Museum, and 1,850l. for the second by a private collector.

Of subordinate interest were the fine Greek Venus head in profile (No. 119); the rare and curious Egyptian queen as Isis, in a headdress of feathers (No. 366); a large Medusa phalera of rough but effective work (No. 105); the Victory in a biga (No. 263); the Omphale (No. 309), said to have been given by Charles the Fifth to Pope Clement the Seventh, and mounted in an elaborate sixteenth-century setting, which no doubt counted for much in its rather high price of 460 guineas. This important historical jewel may now be seen in the Gem Room at the British Museum, together with the other national acquisitions. Another very interesting cameo was the portrait in full relief of Livia with the young Tiberius, a fragment wrought in that unusual material, green turquoise.

Among the Bessborough Renaissance and later cameos, the largest

and most uncommon was the portrait on sardonyx, 3 inches in height, of Andrea Carafa, Count of Sanseverino, Viceroy of Naples in 1525, which has been identified by means of a contemporary medal. This stone, loosely and smoothly worked in rather a medallist's' manner, and mounted in a showy setting, sold for 310l. Far finer as a work of art, however, was the Philip the Second (No. 586), also on a sardonyx, and ascribed to the famous gem engraver, Jacopo da Trezzo, which disputes with the other splendid bust of the same king on yellow crystal (No. 587) the palm for the finest modern portrait among the Marlborough gems. It sold for 110l. 5s. Little inferior, in another style, is the excellent portrait now believed to be that of Cardinal Granvelle (not Mazarin) (No. 590), probably French sixteenth-century work; while the Pyrrhus' (No. 615), the Augustus (Nos. 391 and 392), the Negress (No. 571), the Phaeton (No. 273), perhaps by Giovanni dei Corniuoli, the great Medicean engraver, and the Laocoön, in high relief on a fine amethyst, by Sirletti's masterly hand, are all large, attractive gems. The small cameo on a fine sapphire (No. 588), representing Henry the Third (not the Fourth) of France, is a good and interesting contemporary work, very like one recently sold at Christie's which was inscribed with the name of the Earl of Essex. A third, much larger, and apparently by the same hand, in sapphirine chalcedony, is also in England; and a fourth, representing the same king in a different costume, on mother of pearl, is in the Apollo Gallery at the Louvre.

Among notable antique intaglios, the Bessborough excelled the Arundel cabinet in quality and matched it in number. The bold head of Serapis (No. 5), in full face upon a large boss of pale amethyst, polished in its original shape, deserves mention for its curiosity; so, too, the large nicolo (No. 256) now in the British Museum. The Apollo (No. 47); the pretty Apollo and Coronis (No. 60) (if it be antique); the Perseus (No. 96); the admirable though tiny head of Bacchus, with the face upturned (No. 212), deeply cut in a wonderful golden sard; the Hercules (No. 311) and a charming Omphale (No. 314), of late Greek work on a pale amethyst; the Priam at the feet of Achilles (No. 332); the good Roman portrait of Marcus Junius Brutus (No. 375); the Sabina (No. 454) (perhaps, however, by Sirletti); the stiff and quaint bust of Julia Domna on a very large beryl (No. 484); the Caracalla (No. 485), on a fine sapphire, good work for his time, on this hard stone; the deeply cut Roman portrait of a youth in full face (No. 506); the very beautiful and important 'athlete' with the signature, ÃNAIOT, executed with the graver on an antique paste resembling a hyacinthine garnet (says Mr. Story-Maskelyne), which long passed muster for a real stone; the Discobolus (No. 622), and the Sculptor (No. 629), on a sard having parts of the work artificially discoloured, with the early Christian inscription, IXOTE, on the back, are all gems worthy of attention.