⁵⁄₈ in. (1.5 cm.) long

Giorgio Sangiorgi (1886-1965), Rome, acquired and brought to Switzerland, late 1930s; thence by continuous descent to the current owner.

J. Boardman and C. Wagner, Masterpieces in Miniature: Engraved Gems from Prehistory to the Present, London, 2018, p. 18, no. 11.

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Lot Essay

The simple beetle, said to be from Taranto, has a hatched border dividing the thorax and wing cases, and the legs are in relief, all on a plain plinth. On the underside, a nude Hermes kneels above a groundline, holding his kerykeion in one hand, the other resting on his thigh. His upper torso is in three-quarter view while his head is depicted in profile. The scene is enclosed within a hatched border.

For the subject and style, compare the chalcedony scaraboid from Marion, now in Nicosia, Cyprus, no. 257 in Boardman, Archaic Greek Gems.