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Description: | Roughly half of the Museum's gems and cameos, those that are unmounted, are curated by the Department of Coins and Medals, which is also responsible for a collection of approximately 17,000 gem casts and impressions, mainly of the 18th and 19th centuries. The Departmental Gem and Cameo holdings number approximately 500 items, it also holds a small collection of 80 seal matrices and a large reference set of 8,000 seal impressions. Other gems, cameos and seal-related items are largely curated by the Department of Antiquities, as these largely relate to Classical Archaeology or Egyptology. Many of these gems and seal stones are set as jewellery. The Department of Applied Arts also has some relevant items including engraved gems/intaglios.
Many of the Interdepartmental items have been published together in a comprehensive catalogue of classical gems, cameos and intaglios, although this omits items such as medieval and modern seals with heraldic devices which fall outside the Classical tradition. It also omits Minoan and Mycenean seals, published elsewhere by V.E.G. Kenna and the large collection of Egyptian seals and those from Western Asia.
The Fitzwilliam Museum acquired itÃ's first substantial holding of engraved gems in 1864, the 134 stones of the collection of Colonel Leake. This collection had been formed largely in Italy, Greece and the London markets. Other important collections of Greek and Roman gems came from Alfred de Pass in 1933 and Charles Ricketts/Charles Shannon in 1937. Seals from the northwestern frontier of Pakistan and ancient Bactria came from two numismatists who worked there: H.L. Haughton and R.B. Whitehead. The museum also has a major holding of oriental (mainly Persian) gems, including the Davis collection of seals from Iran. There are magical amulets described by Mary Whiting. Frank Mcclean and through him, Joseph Meyer also contributed significant related collections to the Fitzwilliam Museum.
The Wellcome Historical Medical Museum dispersed part of its non-medical collection to the Fitzwilliam Museum, passing on Ã-part of its considerable collection of Gem impressions and all its original Classical GemsÃ. This donation comprised 252 items, which are illustrated in a catalogue edited by Mr R. Nicholls and published in 1983. The included stones were mainly Roman, with a few Sassanian, Near Eastern, Medieval, Renaissance and Modern. In addition to the acquisition of these and other relevant collections, the Museum has made several significant smaller purchases in order to fill gaps in the collection.
Highlights of the museum collection include the cameo of George III, LeakeÃ's Ã-Dexamenosà gem depicting Mike and her maid in the manner of scenes from Attic grave reliefs and a Hermes by Dioskourides, donated by Ricketts and Shannon. | Subjects: | Seals (animals) Seals (law) Gems Classical studies Archaeology Seals (royal) Egyptology | Source: | Cornucopia - Discovering UK Collections | FAX: | 01223 332 923 | Telephone: | 01223 332 900 | Identifier: | oai:www.cornucopia.org.uk:8370 | Go to resource |
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