The scarab is finely detailed with a palmette on the back and incised winglets. The underside is engraved with a long-haired figure wearing a chiton and a himation over the shoulders and holding a flower, perhaps a lily. The scene is enclosed within a hatched border. Boardman and Wagner consider the figure male, while Sangiorgi thought female, and compared her to later Roman depictions of the goddess Spes (Hope), for whom there is no Etruscan equivalent. For Spes on a bronze sestertius holding a similar flower see pl. 67, no. 235 in J.P.C. Kent, Roman Coins.
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Masterpieces in Miniature: Ancient Engraved Gems formerly in the G. Sangiorgi Collection Part III
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Intact, with a tiny chip to the edge in front of the figures head, with a hairline surface crack extending from the edge towards the nose; some minor surface scratches.
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