Irish Mahogany Box Inlaid with Carved Lava Stone Cameos Italian Micro Mosaic Roundels Pietra-Dura Butterfly Decorated Panels Numerous Agates Stones and Gems
An Unusual Irish Mahogany Box Inlaid with Carved Lava Stone Cameos Italian Micro Mosaic Roundels Pietra-Dura Butterfly Decorated Panels Numerous Agates Stones and Gems Containing a Collection of Agates and Intaglios in Three Layers
The first tray with a collection of twelve glass intaglios one red jasper Egyptian scarab beetle thirty five cut and polished agates of various sizes and a fine cut rock crystal jewel contained in original red leather case with handwritten note: ‘specimen (sic) of Crystal found in the neighbourhood of Mont Blanc. Given to me by George Lowther 1816’
The second tray with a large slab of lapis lazuli and thirty five other various cut and polished agates
The bottom third layer with two thick specimen slaps of straw porphyry with labels underneath: ‘No. 431 Serpentine Verde Scilio Con Cristolli Orientale’ and ‘No. 422 Serpentine Verde Con Cristalli Gialli Ed Agata’ and a large cut slab of green moss agate another of lapis lazuli and five other cut and polished agate specimens
A label to the lid reading: ‘Made by my Father Robert Foster Dunlop in the Winter of 1852 and 1853. D.R Quin’ Dorothea Roberta Quin was the daughter of Robert Foster Dunlop (formerly Delap) 1809 - 1875 of Monasterboice Co. Louth. She married the Reverend Richard Quin of Fork Hill Ireland in 1880
Size: 16cm high, 36cm wide, 25.5cm deep - 6¼ ins high, 14¼ ins wide, 10 ins deep
The first tray with a collection of twelve glass intaglios one red jasper Egyptian scarab beetle thirty five cut and polished agates of various sizes and a fine cut rock crystal jewel contained in original red leather case with handwritten note: ‘specimen (sic) of Crystal found in the neighbourhood of Mont Blanc. Given to me by George Lowther 1816’
The second tray with a large slab of lapis lazuli and thirty five other various cut and polished agates
The bottom third layer with two thick specimen slaps of straw porphyry with labels underneath: ‘No. 431 Serpentine Verde Scilio Con Cristolli Orientale’ and ‘No. 422 Serpentine Verde Con Cristalli Gialli Ed Agata’ and a large cut slab of green moss agate another of lapis lazuli and five other cut and polished agate specimens
A label to the lid reading: ‘Made by my Father Robert Foster Dunlop in the Winter of 1852 and 1853. D.R Quin’ Dorothea Roberta Quin was the daughter of Robert Foster Dunlop (formerly Delap) 1809 - 1875 of Monasterboice Co. Louth. She married the Reverend Richard Quin of Fork Hill Ireland in 1880
Size: 16cm high, 36cm wide, 25.5cm deep - 6¼ ins high, 14¼ ins wide, 10 ins deep
The fascination for collecting miniature stones, intaglios, gems and cameos reached back through the renaissance to classical antiquity itself. Pliny described the cabinets of such illustrious Romans as Pompey the Great, Julius Caesar and Marcellus, nephew of the Emperor Augustus. In the 17th and 18th centuries passionate connoisseurs of coins and gems such as the Earl of Arundel and Sir William Hamilton formed important and outstanding collections. In the 19th century this love for collecting almost became a national pursuit, and with the founding of the Victoria and Albert Museum it was no longer thought of as eccentric.
Irish Mahogany Box Inlaid with Carved Lava Stone Cameos Italian Micro Mosaic Roundels Pietra-Dura Butterfly Decorated Panels Numerous Agates Stones and Gems
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