Lord Arundel's Collections

Ancient Roman Gemcutter
Diomedes and Odysseus (the Felix Gem)
1st century AD
sardonyx intaglio
(formerly in the Arundel Collection)
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford

In the 1460s Pope Paul II owned the Felix Gem.  His inventory rated it as the most valuable object he possessed.  In time it passed to the Gonzaga court where Andrea Mantegna is known to have studied and copied the figures.  Late in the 1630s a dealer named Daniel Nys came to London and offered King Charles a rich "cabinet of gems" said to derive from the Gonzaga collection and including the Felix Gem.  Charles balked at the price, but Lord Arundel did not.  He reportedly paid £10,000 for this group of 263 cameos and intaglios, both ancient and modern.  Difficult as it is to compare money-values across centuries, several sources estimate that in the early 17th century £1 had the buying power of at least $100 today.  By that measure Arundel's purchase-price for the gems in modern currency works out tidily to about $1,000,000.  

Ancient Greek Gemcutter
Satyr with Grapes
2nd century BC
garnet intaglio
(formerly in the Arundel Collection)
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Ancient Roman Gemcutter
Augustus
AD 41-54
sardonyx cameo
(formerly in the Arundel Collection)
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Ancient Roman Gemcutter
Cupids erecting a Trophy
1st century BC
onyx cameo
(formerly in the Arundel Collection)
Getty Museum, Los Angeles

Ancient Roman Gemcutter
Bust of Apollo
1st century BC - 1st century AD
sardonyx cameo
(formerly in the Arundel Collection)
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Ancient Roman Gemcutter
Head of Cicero
50 BC 
carnelian intaglio
(formerly in the Arundel Collection)
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Anonymous Italian Gemcutter
Death of Meleager
late 16th century
shell cameo
(formerly in the Arundel Collection)
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Ancient Roman Gemcutter
Young Satyr supporting Silenus
1st century BC - 1st century AD
sardonyx cameo
(formerly in the Arundel Collection)
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Ancient Roman Gemcutter
Hermaphroditus
1st century BC
sardonyx cameo
(formerly in the Arundel Collection)
Getty Museum, Los Angeles

Ancient Roman Gemcutter
Woman and Child
1st century BC
sardonyx cameo
(formerly in the Arundel Collection)
Getty Museum, Los Angeles

Ancient Roman Gemcutter
Aurora driving Chariot
1st century BC - 1st century AD
sardonyx cameo
(formerly in the Arundel Collection)
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Anonymous European Gemcutter
One of the Horae
early 17th century
carnelian intaglio
(formerly in the Arundel Collection)
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Anonymous Italian Gemcutter
Germanicus and Agrippina
early 17th century
onyx cameo
(formerly in the Arundel Collection)
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Anonymous Italian Gemcutter
Marcus Aurelius and Faustina
early 17th century
onyx cameo
(formerly in the Arundel Collection)
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Anonymous Italian Gemcutter
Two Satyrs and Cupid
16th century
carnelian intaglio
(formerly in the Arundel Collection)
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Ancient Roman Gemcutter
Wedding of Cupid and Psyche
50-25 BC
onyx cameo
(formerly in the Arundel Collection)
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Bernard Picart
Antique Gem with The Marriage of Cupid and Psyche
(formerly in the Arundel Collection, as noted on the engraving)
1719
engraving
Philadelphia Museum of Art

 

Bijouterie (Genève)

Henri Vever
Belt Buckle
1897
gold (partly enameled)
Musées d'Art et d'Histoire, Genève

Gilbert Albert
Bracelet
ca. 1970
gold, turquoises, pearls
Musées d'Art et d'Histoire, Genève

Roman Empire
Theatrical Scene from Menander
140-80 BC
chalcedony cameo
Musées d'Art et d'Histoire, Genève

Etruscan Culture
Athena Promachos
550-525 BC
sardonyx scarab recut as intaglio
Musées d'Art et d'Histoire, Genève

Anonymous Swiss Jeweler
Bracelet
(concealing painted miniature)
ca. 1830
enameled gold, opals, rubies, emeralds, pearls
Musées d'Art et d'Histoire, Genève

Jean-François Bautte
Brooch
ca. 1825
enameled gold, turquoises, rose topazes
Musées d'Art et d'Histoire, Genève

Jean-François Bautte
Ear Pendants
ca. 1825
enameled gold, turquoises, rose topazes
Musées d'Art et d'Histoire, Genève

Anonymous French Jeweler
Pocket Watch
ca. 1825
gold, paved with graduated pearls
Musées d'Art et d'Histoire, Genève

Suzanne Belperron
Ear Clips
1967
gold, sapphires, emeralds and glass
(made in Paris using vintage gems)
Musées d'Art et d'Histoire, Genève

Louis Pautex-Meilland
Peach Brooch
ca. 1880-1900
enamel on copper
Musées d'Art et d'Histoire, Genève

Anonymous Swiss Jeweler
Brooch
ca. 1846
enameled gold, diamonds, ruby
Musées d'Art et d'Histoire, Genève

Anonymous Swiss Jeweler
Bracelet
ca. 1846
enameled gold, diamonds, ruby
Musées d'Art et d'Histoire, Genève

Marcel Constant Bastard
Finger-Ring as Bee with Watch
ca. 1930
enameled gold, diamonds, sapphires
Musées d'Art et d'Histoire, Genève

René Lalique
Pendant - Allegory of Autumn
ca. 1898-1900
enameled gold
Musées d'Art et d'Histoire, Genève

Marie-Mathilde Bedot
Necklace
ca. 1900
shell cameo and turquoises set in silver
Musées d'Art et d'Histoire, Genève

Henri Vever
Paper-Folder - Moth
1900
gold, silver, bronze
Musées d'Art et d'Histoir, -Genève

After the herald had said this, the Athenians sent a herald of their own to the Boeotians, denying that either they had done any wrong to the holy place already or would willingly do any hurt to it hereafter; for neither did they at first enter into it to such intent, but to requite the greater injuries which had been done unto them; as for the law which the Grecians have, it is no other but that they which have the dominion of any territory, great or small, have ever the temples also, and besides the accustomed rites, may superinduce what other they can: for also the Boeotians, and most men else, all that having driven out another nation possess their territory, did at first invade the temples of others and make them their own; that therefore, if they could win from them more of their land, they would keep it, and for the part they were now in, they were in it with a good will and would not out of it, as being their own; that for the water, they meddled with it upon necessity; which was not to be ascribed to insolence, but to this, that fighting against the Boeotians that had invaded their territory first, they were forced to use it; for whatsoever is forced by war or danger hath in reason a kind of pardon even with the god himself; for the altars, in cases of involuntary offences, are a refuge, and they are said to violate laws that are evil without constraint, not they that are a little bold upon occasion of distress; that the Boeotians themselves, who require restitution of the holy places for a redemption of the dead, are more irreligious by far than they, who, rather than let their temples go, are content to go without that which were fit for them to receive; and they bade him say plainly that they would not depart out of the Boeotian territory, for that they were not now in it, but in a territory which they had made their own, by the sword; and nevertheless, required truce, according to the ordinance of the country, for the fetching away of the dead.

To this the Boeotians answered that if the dead were in Boeotia, they should quit the ground and take with them whatsoever was theirs; but if the dead were in their own territory, the Athenians themselves knew best what to do.

– from The Peloponnesian War as written by Thucydides (5th century BC) and translated by Thomas Hobbes (1628) and edited by David Grene (1959)

Solids

Anonymous Venetian Maker
Compote
ca. 1550-1650
glass
Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia

Baccarat Cristallerie
Paperweight
ca. 1845-55
blown glass
Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia

Boston & Sandwich Glass Co.
Cologne Bottle
ca. 1860
blown glass
Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia

Boston & Sandwich Glass Co.
Sweetmeat Dish
ca. 1860
blown glass
Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia

Boston & Sandwich Glass Co.
Epergne
ca. 1850
blown glass
Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia

Thomas Webb & Sons (Stourbridge, England)
Vase
ca. 1886
glass
Frick Art Museum, Pittsburgh

George and Thomas Woodall
The Intruders
ca. 1893
carved glass cameo
Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia

Albert Louis Dammouse
Bowl
ca. 1905
pâte de verre
McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, Texas

Tiffany & Co. (New York)
Floriform Vase
ca. 1907
blown glass
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

Jacoba van Heemskerck
Composition
ca. 1920
leaded glass
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam

Anonymous French Maker
Perfume Bottle
ca. 1925
glass
Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia

René Lalique
Bowl with Parrots
1931
glass
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Flavio Poli
Figurine
ca. 1930-40
solid worked and iridized glass
Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia

Alice Trumbull Mason
Abstraction
1941
mosaic
(shells, stones, tiles and glass set into concrete)
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC

Andre DeLatte
Vase
before 1953
blown glass
Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia

William Morris (born 1957)
Canopic Jar: Javan Muntjac
1995
blown and applied glass
Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia

Deborah Moore
Yellow Lady Slipper
2008
blown glass
Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia

Thee too, O King, hath she taken

    And bound in her tenfold chain;

    Yet faint not, neither complain;

The dead thou wilt not awaken

    For all thy weeping again.

They perish, whom gods begot;

The night releaseth them not.

Beloved was she that died

And dear shall ever abide.

For this was the queen among women, Admetus, that lay by thy side.

Nor as the multitude lowly,

    Asleep in their sepulchres,

    Not as their grave be hers,

But like as the gods held holy,

    The worship of wayfarers.

Yea, all that travel the way

Far off shall see it and say,

Lo, erst for her lord she died,

To-day she sitteth enskied;

Hail, lady, be gracious to usward; that always her honour abide. 

– Euripides, from Alcestis, translated by A.E. Housman (before 1936)