The peacock frequently appears on gems; naturally, no one would have had it as an emblem of vanity, in which sense it is generally accepted in modern times, but it was revered as the favorite of Juno.
The owl: Minerva’s head is at times draped with an owl; its connection with Minerva is that it is symbolic of profound meditation.
Beautiful storks occur frequently on engraved gems: they were so abundant in Asia Minor and in the Byzantine Empire that husbandmen sought to frighten them away; yet in other lands they were almost adored. In modern Fünen, and generally in Scandinavia, storks building their nests on the roofs of houses in the country are welcomed as bringing children for the household, and are cared for with a credulity equalling pagan superstition.
The frog has sometimes found a place in Christian symbolism as the most expressive image of the resurrection of the body, because frogs, like the serpents after their winter interment, emerge from their hiding-places and renew their youth by casting their slough.
Many farm and house companions figure in the series: a dog, fidelity; a cock, vigilance; a turtle, always at home; a snail, there is no hurry; a sheep, humility; a lamb, innocence; a horse, patience and endurance; a dove, harmless, the Holy Spirit; a lion, majesty and force; a serpent, wisdom, and, with its tail in mouth, eternity; a serpent was often represented on the stone above the fireplace in Roman kitchens; a ram was significant of the Nundine sacrifices made weekly to Jupiter; a lion and a goat driven by Cupid, the power of love: he guides not only the lascivious, but the strong.
ANTIQUE PASTES.
The Antique Pastes are interesting from the fact that they present us with many curious mythological subjects not always to be found on semi-precious stones. They are specimens of a branch of early Roman industry.
They were made in imitation of Oriental stones, of which the supply was inadequate for the great demand of the first and second centuries A. D., and also as a matter of economy. Often in ancient times a quantity of fragments of hard semi-precious pebbles too small to be engraved were pulverized, and the sand or granulated mass was fused in crucibles just as glass is made. This process enabled many lovers of the art to possess examples in this cheaper artificial substance when the same subjects on real India stones were commanding exorbitant prices. Some of these gems are beautifully opalescent and iridescent.