The Crucifixion on a Greek Gem

The gem of which an engraving (in twice the actual size) is here given is a carnelian intaglio, which I found in a private collection in London in 1895. The owner, a Greek lady, resident in London, brought it to me with a bagful of similar gems, all of which had been in her possession from childhood. It appears that as a child she lived with her family at Constanza (Kustendje), and that the children playing on the beach there used frequently to find and make collections of Greek gems washed up by the sea or lying among the sand and pebbles. Her collection comprised some thirty or forty, all of which undoubtedly date from the first to the third century A.D.; but this was the only one of real importance; it was bought on my representation by Sir A. W. Franks and presented to the British Museum, where it is now exhibited among the Christian antiquities.