⁷⁄₈ in. (2.2 cm.) long

Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel (1586-1646), Arundel House, London; thence by continuous descent Jane Bickerton Howard (1643-1693), Arundel House, London.
Henry Mordant, 2nd Earl of Peterborough (1621-1697), Drayton House, Northamptonshire, acquired from the above, circa 1690; thence by continuous descent Mary Beauclerk (1743-1812) on the occasion of her marriage to Lord Charles Spencer (1740-1820), 1762.
George Spencer, 4th Duke of Marlborough (1739-1817), Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, acquired from the above, circa 1765; thence by continuous descent to John Winston Spencer-Churchill, 7th Duke of Marlborough (1822-1883), Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire.
The Marlborough Gems: Being a Collection of Works in Cameo and Intaglio Formed by George, Third Duke of Marlborough, Christie's, London, 28 June-1 July 1875, lot 524.
David Bromilow (1809-1898), Bitteswell Hall, Leicestershire, acquired from the above; thence by descent to his daughter, Julia Harriet Mary Jary, Bitteswell Hall, Leicestershire, 1898.
The Marlborough Gems: A Collection of Works in Cameo and Intaglio Formed by George, Third Duke of Marlborough, Purchased by the Late David Bromilow, Esq., of Bitteswell Hall, Lutterworth, the Property of Mrs. Jary, Christie's, London, 26-29 June 1899, lot 524.
with Francis E. Whelan (1848-1907), London, acquired from the above (according to auctioneer's book).
Charles Newton-Robinson (1853-1913), London.
Catalogue of the Valuable and Important Collection of Engraved Gems Formed by Charles Newton-Robinson Esq., Christie's, London, 22 June 1909, lot 133.
Giorgio Sangiorgi (1886-1965), Rome, acquired and brought to Switzerland, late 1930s; thence by continuous descent to the current owner.

18th century manuscript of the Arundel Collection, no. A 26.
A. Fountaine, The Arundel Cabinet, London, 1731, p. 2, no. 26.
N. Story-Maskelyne, The Marlborough Gems: Being a Collection of Works in Cameo and Intaglio Formed by George, Third Duke of Marlborough, London, 1870, p. 88, no. 524.
J. Boardman, et al., The Marlborough Gems, Formerly at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, London, 2009, p. 118, no. 225.
J. Boardman and C. Wagner, Masterpieces in Miniature: Engraved Gems from Prehistory to the Present, London, 2018, p. 166, no. 152.

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Lot Essay

Engraved on this convex oval ring stone is the bust of a man in three-quarter view. He has articulated eyes, a full head of wavy locks, a mustache and a forked beard. He wears a cuirass, with pteryges protecting his shoulder, under a chlamys pinned by a circular brooch. The stone is mounted as a ring in a late 18th or early 19th century gold setting.
Sangiorgi thought the subject resembled a bronze portrait bust of a man in the British Museum, which he considered to be Lucius Aelius Caesar (see no. 260 in S. Walker and M. Bierbrier, Ancient Faces). Boardman and Wagner (Marlborough, op. cit.) previously considered this a Renaissance gem, although later (Masterpieces, op. cit.) suggested a connection to a portrait of the philosopher Plotinos, but the referenced marble portrait has a receding hairline contrary to that seen on our gem (see G.M.A. Richter, Portraits of the Greeks, figs. 2056-2058). Given the style, a 16th century date seems most likely.