Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1905-07-07
HISTORY OF CANOES.
Shells, Eggs and Stones Used Before
Onyx Was Known


Scientific American: An interesting
lecture was recently delivered by
cyril Davenport at the Royal institu-
ton, London, dealing With the beauti-
full handicraft dating from Ptolemaic
times-cameos. Mr.. Davenport main
tanned that a first-rate intaglio on hard
stone was the finest work OF art which
could be wrought by the hand of a
| ~Intaglios, however, he explained, were
| normally intended for the purpose OF
making impressions, being therefore
only a means to an end. whereas a
| cameo was complete in itself. He de-
scribed the processes necessary to the
production of a cameo, including the
mysteries of the bow drill, cutting dia-
mond point, and modern g~em-cutter's
lathe. A short account was also given
Of the early history OF canoes on
| shells, eggs and soft stones before the
| discovery OF onyx as the material spe-
cially adapted for c~ameo-cutting. The
| Graeco-Roman, and especially the Au-
GUSTAV, period was rich in canoes. and
almost every great IN wished to
have his portrait cut in onyx. One OF
these, am exquisite portrait of the en-
peror himself, which formerly belonged
to the Strozzi collection. is perhaps the
finest existing cameo. Such portrait
| canoes were practically indestructible,
except by accident. The large canoes
the Triumph OF Bacchus" at the vati-
can. the Agate de There" at Paris,
and the "Gemma Augesten" at Vienna
were described in detail, n much
curious information was given about
the signatures on canoes. When these
signatures were I'm relief they were un-
doubtedly genuine, but when In intaglo
they might be ~forgeries. and many such
signatures were known to have been
forged during the renaissance.
Regarding the glass plates, the finest
instances OF glass cameos are to be
found upon the Portland vase and the
Auld1o vase, both in London. and on
the Vase des Nendanges at Naples.
The remarkable change from the
classical and NEUROLOGICAL designs of
the Graeco-Roman times to the Chris
tian themes of the fourth century, when
Constantine the Great became Chris
tian, is curiously illustrated in canoes.
Hercules was christened David" Per-
seus and the Gorgon became David
and Goliath" and Venuses and Ledas
were turned into Virgin Marys:" and
the great Agate de There" at Paris
was only saved from destruction by
being called the Triumph of Joseph in
Egypt" hen at the renaissance they
all went back again, and classical art
recovered its lost position. The re-
AA1ioftliiNI ia WY ~ y
skilled workmen, but in spite of their
general high level they had not sue
ceeded in making any very important
cameo, although the "Hymeneal Pro-
cession of Eros and Psyche" realized a
high price. They were, however, emf
nently successful in the setting Of gems.
Pope Plus II. and Lorenzo de Medici
bestowed high n learned patronage
in the matter of engraved gems. Two
very charming pendants with cameo
portraits OF Queen Elizabeth repre-
sented English work. and fine recent
work has also been executed by Ed
ward Burch, Marchant, Wray and
Brett. In Great Britain. however. the
art was virtually lost,- and Bernardo
P~istrucci. chief engrayer TO the mint,
who designed the beautiful group of st.
George and the dragon on the Eng
lish sovereign coin, was really the last
great cameo designer. In france fine
work has been done in late years by
Adolph David, Henri Francois. Georges
Lemaire and others.