artistic

And there were layers of precious stones on it in the midst of the embossed cord-work, and they were interwoven with one another by an inimitable artistic device.

Of the mixing bowls, two were wrought in gold, and from the base to the middle were engraved with relief work in the pattern of scales, and between the scales Precious stones were inserted with great artistic skill.

Then there was a 'maeander' a cubit in height, with its surface. wrought out of precious stones of many colours, displaying great artistic effort and beauty.

So that it is really impossible to describe the artistic beauty of the works.

In a word it may be said that neither in the king's treasury nor in any other, were there any works which equalled these in costliness or in artistic skill.

The most exceptional artistic skill was employed, so that the cost of the stones and the workmanship was five times as much as that of the gold.