, 1875-07-25

hold in their hands the gems One immense
precious stone was sardony1- 81 inches vida
by G in height, engraved with the heads of Ho-
mau Emperor and Empress crowned With OAK
leaves and wheat-eaEs- Tho nead OF Aeousa
occurs on several Of the ancient gems. repre-
eepted as beantiful rather than terrible Another
ia supposed to be portrait uf Cleopatra Une
OF the most admired is large pale amethyst, 1sts
by / Il inches oval and convex The oeSlGn ls
a head in high relief of the Greek AlneIsa IN
an ornamental helmet, the work said to be OF
The ntrnocs difficulty and perfection, and sinSu-
larlv fascinating IS though one looked into deep
xater for; 4 vision OF: the godde6d. A smal,
rinq-yet eemY 3 gsrdet carved with the dog star
Sirius. belonged to Lord Chesterfield. and Is re-
carded as one OF the finest works of any age.
T'ha gems are Of all sorts OF precious stores:
and al sorts Of workmanship Forty imper1A
Romans appear amoog the portraits and many
modern toyal heads
A pEscR1PT1cS Or THE sESBAT1oY 1t THE SALE
il taken from MT. ConWay's letter to the Cln-
c1unati Commercial:
vh+n these s9 1erns cane to Be sold yesterday Inc
excitement great, and the company ~aa
The representatives Of European museums wefe, psE
ent ana antIaua11kns had CONE oat OF her mIsy
holes and it WIS Almost Hks masquerade o1 o4a poE
trata Each had set his eye hunzrily upon some faf-
ucular gen. set Of gems, and esch WAS FL
the fer that the whole sef would 6e oou6nt en" ~
some one person or psttutiou-the DUKE n4v1oB 1e-
served the night Of selling them. Just tnat happsn
ed. Amid solemn hush the auchoneer stated taat
the Duke had FeABUn TO De1eFo Tue CoAe[Aoo VIZ ~
1000 But Sig. Casallani had Talued them loses
placing the lowest hgure At 5oo Feeling tnas tois
vaa m opportunity for the nation, ne
Duke reserved them 1t the latter price, and
they would Be put up. =. that The .aettoneeE
put them up At that The great Agnew' sa1d
solennly: II bid .hirty-hse thousand guineas." A
shout Of applause followed then hresthless aenee
Calmly the auct1oneer said: "Tmrty-dve thousand
euineaa." Then he waited \ minute, and cried
2Tht.ty-hve thousaad guineas-tbe second tine !: /"
Another swful minute in which hope IN many faces
Tept out ike fame out Of many lampa. Far tho
thtrd-and tha 1ast-tinne cried the suctouear. ~,
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
apd down came the hammer, Rharp and fesoue. The
great ss1s Instantly score Or two of peo.
thfs Of that gem or set separately. Agnev, IN hs
magnificent -hnperial1y-nads = little speech.
| saying that in matter q such importance
| The tiu1e Agnew was the mero fActotum o{
| Mr. Brouilow Of Battlesdea PARK, md had not
powe1 ever single gem. This 'vhoae thus goes to =
rentlern,u whose private fortune more than .
| match for any museum In Europe, or even far the
F1rheouer of Great Britain. It would be difficult
| should sav to realize the emotions Of NJ. H. NeTa
ry-Naskelyne, II L., tho curator Of gems In the
Brittah Museum, be went sadly nWaJ from thu
sccne He has Investigated the history knd value q
eyery Rern IN the collection, and Knows vat N oppor
tunity the uation has lost But the shaFpet euge o.
the iron that yesterday entered his SOUL wss
the fact that Lady Euzabesh VIII
be Lady Elizabeth BeEkely mentioned aeoye]-befozs
she presented her niece with this same coeeton ~
bridal xppnnAge offered it to the British Museum foa
I r1n IN Thu offer WA declined.