Antiquarium, or Cabinet of Antiquities at the Berlin Museum in 1832, and became its vice-president. A set of 419 plaster impressions of Prince Stanisław Poniatowski's (1754–1833) gem collection was presented to the King of Prussia by the prince (they now form the Daktyliothek Poniatowski in Berlin). They were shown to Toelken in 1832, where he was the first to doubt that the original gems were ancient, noticing that (from the known signatures of Graeco-Roman engravers) the signatures on these gems suggested that engravers working centuries apart were producing gems that were impossibly identical in style, and stating "Thus, we have here, -- and I am extremely sorry to give this hard judgement! -- in works and words a scientific deceit of such dimensions never seen in art history before." He did, however, judge their classical style with great admiration, and commented that the impressions were "indeed the most beautiful you can expect to see in art". As a secretary of the Prussian Academy of Arts, he was co-signatory and co-author of an 1844 letter of thanks from it to the composer. Works Erklärung der Bildwerke am Tempel des Jupiter Ammon zu Siwah ... Diese Bogen, nebst den beiligenden drei Steindrücken, gehören zu der von dem Verfasser herauszugebenden "Reise zum Tempel des Jupiter Ammon in Libyen und nach Oberägypten von Sr. Excellenz dem Herrn General-Lieutenant Freiherr von Minutoli." Berlin, A. Rücker, 1823. Reise zum Tempel des Jupiter Ammon in der Lybischen Wüste .. in den Jahren 1820 und 1821. Von Heinrich Freiherr von Minutoli ... Nach den Tagebüchern ... herausgegeben von Dr. E.H. Toelken (Berlin, Rücker, 1824; a supplement volume appeared in 1827) - on the Prussian army officer, Heinrich Baron von Minutoli's trip to Egypt in 1820 and the Siwa Oasis in 1821 as leader of a scientific mission, on which Minutoli amassed an important collection of antiquities which Aloys Hirt visited enthusiastically in 1823; the collection was eventually sold in Paris with a large part acquired by the Berlin Museum of which Toelken was a curator. References External links Die Gesetzlose Gesellschaft zu Berlin (in German) Johannes Tütken, "Privatdozenten im Schatten der Georgia Augusta", p 518–530 particularly and passim (in German) 1786 births 1869 deaths German classical scholars Archaeologists from Leipzig People of the Antikensammlung Berlin Directors of museums in Germany