#7474 superb ancient intaglio with important provenance.

A short while ago, we chatted about the glyptic arts, which simply means the art of carving or engraving precious stones. Since we focused heavily on cameos, it's time to pay a little more attention to their mirror-image technique - the intaglio.
An intaglio is when the image is revealed by carving into the stone. Like an engraving. 

 
Since the times of the Ancient Egyptians and Mesopotamians, intaglios were used as seals. 

With identity fraud so common in our world, we can understand that even long ago, people needed to identify themselves in a way that could not be disputed or copied. A simple signature was not adequate - who can't copy that? The Mesopotamians wrote on clay tablets, so they needed something a little sturdier to identify themselves than a ballpoint pen. Initially, they used cylinders - useful in clay, but then they progressed to stone carving.
They developed a system whereby a stone was carved with a sign or symbol that represented them. The carving could be simply the initials of the person if they were modest or could not afford anything more elaborate. Wealthier people would have their entire family crest or coat of arms painstakingly and immaculately carved in stone.  The jewels that resulted would be a symbol of wealth, rank and lineage.

Very practically, the intaglio stone would be pressed into wax (or clay) and the result was the inverse image - clearly readable. If that's difficult to understand, think of the potato-carving we did as children. We carved a potato with a design, dipped it in paint and then printed the potato on paper. The image we saw was the exact reverse image of the carved potato. 

What stones were used? Intaglios are almost always carved from hardstones. The image carved had to stay pristine or the intaglio would lose it's purpose.  Carnelian, agate, lapis lazuli intaglios can be found. Rarely, intaglios could be carved from other, more valuable materials. This is usually when they were used for more decorative purposes or for the mega-rich.

#7179 Georgian garnet intaglio ring.

A master-engraver or craftsman would carve an image into a stone. The stone was usually set into a gold mount.  There would be no sense in leaving your personal id lying around for anyone to pick up and use.  For security, it was therefore advisable to wear the intaglio on your person. Since ancient times, from the Egyptians to the Greeks and Romans, intaglios were set in rings. 
During the Georgian era, with gentlemen now wearing pocket watches, the stones were often set in fobs. These are gold mounts, very often highly decorative (remember, they were also status symbols) attached to chains on one side, with the pocket watch on the other. 

People have collected fobs for many years. Since fobs with intaglios come ready-made with loops for attaching to chains, they could be worn in a multitude of ways. At one time (mid 20th century onwards), it was the rage for women to attach them to gold chains and have them flapping around their wrists. Of course, at the point when they were bought by strangers, the provenance of the intaglio was often forgotten. In some cases, the symbol carved in the intaglio could identify the original owner. The erudite amongst us often do research to ascertain the history and provenance of a crest or armorial. 

#7565. Exquisite fob.
   
But having said all that, intaglios were not only used for purely practical purposes. 
Often, stones were carved with a message that was important to the owner. It might have a religious text, it might have a love note. 

Intaglios were carved with mythological figures. Perhaps they are similar in intent to the religious texts that came later, but they are a lot more pictorial.

Intaglios were often carved with the image of a person. Both men and women were represented. Some human-like images are not people at all, but mythological figures. We need to look for identifying features such as little horns, serpent-adorned caps, shields and arrows. 
#6670 Victorian cameo brooch. 

And don't forget: just as we buy and wear beautiful jewelry to enhance our appearance, so in previous centuries and eons, people used and wore cameos and intaglios simply for the sake of their beauty. 
A form of intaglio we touched on before is the Reverse Carved Intaglio, often called the Essex crystal because that's where they were made. A half-sphere of transparent rock crystal was carved from behind, painted and then sealed. The image is magically revealed from the front. Essex crystals have not been made for over 100 years, so start your collection now.

#7570 Reverse Carved Intaglio Essex Crystal.   

In Asia, intaglios were  created for many centuries. Persians engraved texts from the Koran in magnificent script; the Mughals engraved some of their most fabulous rubies and emeralds. In these examples, the beautiful engraved writing was a form of art itself.
#5294 Carnelian cufflinks with Islamist texts.     

One of the great features of intaglios is that they are unisex. Whoever they were made for, anyone can wear them. A man and a woman might not choose to wear them the same way, but they are entirely versatile. Wear on a pendant, a ring, a brooch, a belt, a hat, or hanging from a bracelet. Intaglios were a great conversation piece hundreds of years ago and they still are today. Like with most antique jewelry, there is so much to discuss with your friends about antique intaglios. 
#7027 Unisex Georgian intaglio ring.

Notes on buying intaglios. Like with cameos, it is not always possible or easy to define the exact period when an intaglio was made. The Renaissance period keenly copied the Ancient Greeks and Romans and the Victorians copied the Georgians. To complicate matters further, an original ancient stone, thousands of years old, could be re-set in a 'modern' ring during the Renaissance or Georgian period. It is often very difficult to clearly identify the period that the jewel originated. Unlike so many other materials, cameos and intaglios do not wear down and soften corners. There are not enough hints at the age and origin of an intaglio to be sure when it was created. 

#6653 very old cameo in a later mount.