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Rings, Chasing, and Wire

No. 3 is a copy of a ring of the Ptolemaic period, and is made of woven wire, from which spring three cast and chased figures of Serapis, Isis, and Horus. Although generally effective, the workmanship of this ring is exceedingly coarse. It may be here remarked that nothing is so general as the introduction of chasing in all Egyptian jewelry, and indeed in all their metal work. There are even frequent examples of attempts at embossing, or repoussé work. This chasing, as a rule, is very rude, and consists of little more than outlines, but there are cases in which it is much more finished, and indeed very effective. The claw of a hawk in one of the upper cases of the Mummy Room of the British Museum is an example in point. The earring, No. 4, a relic of Babylon, is one specimen of modelling, casting, and chasing, although by no means one of a high order; and the Assyrian earring, No. 5, discovered by Mr. Layard at Kouyunjik (Nineveh), and which has a pearl at each end, is, no doubt, chased all round, and chased after the present method; that is to say, by being first filled with bituminous matter, in order to offer a sufficient resistance, and no more, to the blow of the chasing tool and hammer. The bitumen, resin, or gum with which the earring is now filled is probably an after arrangement, and in this respect it is similar to the loaded jewelry made even down to the present day in the East Indies. The earloop is conjectural, as the original one is lost. The cylinder seal-ring, No. 6, is an admirable example of a type common among the Egyptians, and shows well the very general use among them of thin wire-work. Wire was made to serve as ornaments on plain surfaces in very many cases, and in its then use may fairly be taken as the origin of filagree, to which, in some instances, it bears a resemblance. The great use of wire is a fact to be noted, for the manufacture of this gold thread is by no means a simple process. It could not have been produced by mere hand labour, and must have been drawn then, as now, through a graduated series of holes, made in some much harder substance than itself. Indeed, it seems difficult to conceive of a wire draw-plate in any less durable and compact metal than steel. A mere rude hole in a piece of iron would not answer the purpose, as it would rip and break the metal-the more so with so soft a metal as fine gold-and at the best would only produce wire of its own shape. A wire draw-plate is a very exact piece of workmanship, in which the holes are carefully graduated in size, so as not to produce too great a strain upon the metal at one time, and brightly polished so as to cause as little friction as possible, as well as to produce a wire of a perfectly round and smooth surface. Even when made of the finest steel, such plates wear rapidly, and the modern improvement is to substitute an eyelet of sapphire, or similar hard gem, in which the hole is made, instead of in the bare metal. Notwithstanding these difficulties, we must suppose that the Egyptians possessed some more or less perfect wire draw-plates, and, in addition, the vice and draw-plyers, in some shape or other, without which the first would be useless.