The Digital Ark: Early Modern Collections of Curiosities in England and Scotland, 1580-1700
Oval Sard [ARK00160]
Attached People: Collector (major) - Bargrave, John (1610-1680)Location(s): Current location at - Canterbury Cathedral Library and Archives (Library and/or Archive) -> Canterbury Cathedral (Institution)
Annotation:[Canterbury Catalog: Oval shaped sard with design of Dolphin and Amphora incised into it (CANCA-B/102a), cast of the above (CANCA-102b). Sard is a reddish-brown chalcedony, much used by the ancients as a gemstone. Pliny the Elder states that it was named from Sardis, in Lydia, where it was first discovered; but the name probably came with the stone from Persia. Sard was used for gems, seals and scarabs. Some kinds of sard closely resemble carnelian, but are usually rather harder. An amphora is a type of ceramic vase with two handles and a long neck narrower than the body. The word amphora is Latin, derived from the Greek amphoreus, a compound word combining amphi- ("on both sides", "twain") plus phoreus ("carrier"), from pherein ("to carry"), referring to the vessel's two carrying handles on opposite sides.] (approx 2nd cent BC)