Roman Intaglios--An Art Similar To Die-Cutting

It's true that #6 and the very last one are cameos--the rest are intaligos, most with a plaster impression.

Isn't it amazing what they could produce with hand tools?
I started this project wanting to see whether Roman coins reflected the best skill at the time--or whether the roughness on many coins is due to the pressures of production. Obviously, there were some extremely skilled engravers working in the Roman empire, who put a lot of care into their work, and who could have produced coin dies of similar quality. Looking at the style of some, such as the Severan example, makes me wonder whether celators also engraved gems?

Oxos, I have seen very few actual dies, but these stones help me appreciate what they may have looked like.
A few pictures of dies have been posted here--like this one.

Just for fun, I'll post a few more engravings from the Roman empire:

A Republican portrait:


Thought to be a young Gaius or Lucius Caesar:






This engraving of Serapis and Isis reminds me of the style and skill of Roman coin dies.

There are some amazing examples on that page!

All are really stunning

Steve, aren't they cool? I keep getting amazed at the craftsmanship with only hand tools.
These are all museum pieces--which I cannot remotely afford, so I collect pictures instead.

stevex, I bet you'll have 5 of them before the end of the week.

And Steve's wife will wonder why he took out the reverse mortgage.