A grand assortment of Miniature engravings, depicting scenes from the Elgin marbles, Parthenon, Roman Gods and portraits, set upon the front of the glass, in a deep set frame.
The intaglio has its origins in Sumer in the 4th millennium BC with the creation of cylinder and stamp seals, whereby decorations and patterns were engraved into soft stones. However, it is not until the Archaic Period in Greece, when Greek artists developed new techniques for the decoration of stones, that gemstone engraving, as we know it, had its beginnings. During the Hellenistic period and the early Roman Empire, the art of intaglio engraving reached its apogee, with there being a steady decline in craftsmanship in the later empire, until a revival of interest with the Byzantines and later during the Renaissance.
Then they became commercialised again to supply the Gentry doing the Grand Tour, who purchased them as gifts for friends back home.
