Roman

A Graeco-Roman banded eye agate intaglio of philosopher set in a modern gold ring, circa 1st - 3rd century AD

Agate, gold

Ring size: N; length of intaglio: 1.5 cm

Roman, A Graeco-Roman banded eye agate intaglio of philosopher set in a modern gold ring, circa 1st - 3rd century AD

£ 5,000.00

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Further images

The oval cabochon intaglio gem is composed of a banded eye agate, with a brown layer on top of white. The gem is engraved with the profile head of an...

Provenance

English private collection, 1970s, thence by descent
Bonhams, 13 April 2011, lot 195 (part)

Literature

Portraits of the 5th century BC Greek philosopher Sokrates show him as bearded and bald with a broad bulbous nose that is said to have likened him to a silenus. There is another old man intaglio with Greek text in the British Museum. Also see J. Boardman, D. Scarisbrick, C. Wagner, E. Zwierlein-Diehl, The Marlborough Gems, 2009, no. 713; and G.M.A. Richter, Catalogue of Engraved Gems: Greek, Etruscan, and Roman, Rome, 1956, pl. LVI.

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