ENGRAVED GEM

An engraved gem is a small gemstone, usually semi presious, that has been carved, in the Western tradition normally with images or inscriptions only on one face. The engraving of gemstones was a major luxury art form in the ancient world, and an important one in some later periods. Strictly speaking, engraving means carving in intaglio, with the design cut into the flat background of the stone, but ralef carvings, with the design projecting out of the background as in nearly all cameos are also covered by the term (this article uses "cameo" in its strict sense, to denote a carving exploiting layers of differently coloured stone). The activity is also called gem carving, and the artists gem-cutters. References to antique gems, and intaglios in a jewlary context, will almost always mean carved gems. Vessels like  heads or figures carved in the round are also known as "HARDSTONE CARVING" and similar terms.