The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1896-08-27

Many OF the aboriginal stone objects
found In North America and elsewhere
are marvels OF lapidarlan skill In chip
ping. drilling, grinding and polishing.
Few lapidaries could duplicate the arrow
points of obsidian from New Mexico. or
those of Jasper. agate agatized wood
and other minerals found along the
Willamette River, oregon. No lapidary
could drill hard stone object truer than
some Of the banner stones, tubes and
other objects made of
Quarts, Greensboro and Granite
that have been found In North Caro-
lima, Georgia and Tennessee; or make
anything more graceful in form and
general outline than some of the quartz
discoldal stones found in these same
States. The latter objects are often from
four to six inches, and occasionally
seven inches in diameter, ground In the
centre until they are of the thlnness
OF paper and almost as transparent, and
the great regularity of the two sides
would almost suggest that they had
been turned In a lathe.
In the Museum ''volkerkunde, at
Berlin, is a remarkable specimen of
lapidary work, 1t is an obsidan ear
ornament two and one-half inches In
diameter and one and fourth inches
IN height, perfect circle of smoke
gray obsidian, the thickness of the
stone in the centre ring being not more
than twenty-fifth of an inch. Few
OF our present lapidaries, with all the
modern appliances, could produce better
work. In the same collection is a
unique and interesting object, a corn
musk OF Jadeite, clinging to which Is an
animal resembling a monkey or a rab-
bit, the ornamentation of which is
scratched in.
Certain rules have been laid down
for detecting forgeries of ancient gems,
yet all are quite useless when the work
in question is that Of clever forger
who has carefully studied and copied
the characteristics of the genuine an
tique
The fact is, in no other class OF art
is 1t so difficult to distinguish the gen.
uine from the false, because age makes
no alteration on materials that resist
such acids as the tomb or burial world
brings them in contact with giving mo
patina or color to hard-polished gem;
and, secondly, because, owing to the
hardness of the material and the labor
ious methods Of working 1t, there is nee
: essarily something mechanical in the
process of engraving a gem which
: makes less prominent the artists Der.
. sonal peculiarities and touch A highly
polished, fresh-looking surface Is no
always proof that the gem is mod
ern. Copies made by the most skillfu
!, engravers of the last century such a
y Matter, Pichler and Burch, are ofte,
= quite indistinguishable from antiques.
The FOrEer's Scheme.
The skillful forger is careful to us
only such tools as were in use amon
. the ancients and there are often n
. means Of deciding whether a wheel
u cut or drill cavity in a hard gem wa
~ made yesterday or 1000 years ago. TIL
~ more obvious signs of age, such as
worn surface covered with fine scratch
~ es, can be given to modern gems 4
y many different ways. The deceptiy
- appearance Of long wear can be pre
- duced by forcing the newly-cut gel
~ down the turkeys throat and leave
for few days to be shaken up wit
bits Of stone and gravel contained |
the turkeys craw, or by putting
in box of gravel at the end of pu
es ley shaft. Freshly-cut canoes readi
y take on the marks of age from ordinaI
Ell rubbing and scratching, or when mix,
MS with iron filings in acid, which rapid
no gives to the white layer OF an onyx Il
n dead, glossy look frequently resultir
re- from great age.
IL In most cases, however limitations
an antique gems are not the work Of for
M ers who combine sufficient knowled
ire with the requisite skill, and a caref
IN, study Of ancient gems will save t
we student or collector from being
om ceived in the majority Of cases.
OF Among the difficult cases to dist
guish are those gems which, thou,
on. originally antique, have been partia
ey- or wholly recut by modern hands.
for the last century and even more !
of Gently this was a very common trl
,le. of the Italian dealers, especially
are recutting Of antique canoes and inta
ost los as frequent as the adding of fl
of piece of chasing or a plain piece
old armor, enhancing its beauty ma
fold and deceiving the buyer
GEORGE F. KUNZ
TAR