Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
The Science of Gems, Jewels, Coins and Medals, Ancient and Modern

The Science of Gems, Jewels, Coins and Medals, Ancient and Modern

Billing, Archibald

Paperback

Series: Cambridge Library Collection - Art and Architecture

General ArtGeneral Divination

ISBN10: 1108075401
ISBN13: 9781108075404
Publisher: Cambridge
Published: Oct 2 2014
Pages: 266
Weight: 0.75
Height: 0.60 Width: 5.50 Depth: 8.50
Language: English
In addition to his medical practice, lecturing and teaching at the London Hospital, and his publishing of several medical works, the Irish physician Archibald Billing (1791-1881) was also an amateur artist and antiquarian. This illustrated book on gemmology was first published in 1867. Beginning with the works of ancient Greece, for him the highest pinnacle of civilization, Billing discusses the use of engraved gems, putting cameos and intaglios in the context of contemporary monumental sculpture, and tracing the history of carving in miniature back to the seal-stones of the Egyptians and Assyrians. He also considers the types and qualities of mineral used in making jewellery, from semi-precious pebbles through to diamonds, and he describes the techniques of cutting precious stones. The work concludes with a translation of the autobiography of the Italian engraver Benedetto Pistrucci (1784-1855), who became chief medallist at the Royal Mint.

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