Handbook of engraved gems
A scholarly handbook by Charles William King, published in London by G. Bell in 1885, cataloguing ancient engraved gems and their carved imagery for collectors and students of classical art. The pictures are plain line engravings of oval and rounded gem designs: a profiled female figure with a staff, a helmeted warrior beside a seated woman, bearded heads in ringed frames, and small figure scenes. A designer might take their tight oval cameo framing, dense hatching, and classical profile portraits as models for seal or medallion layouts.
