Irish Mahogany Box Inlaid with Carved Lava Stone Cameos Italian Micro Mosaic Roundels Pietra-Dura Butterfly Decorated Panels Numerous Agates Stones and Gems

Period: 1800-1900

Origin: Ireland

Medium: Wood, agates, , Gem Stones

Literature: 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.