1 in. (2.5 cm.) long

Said to be from Cologne.
Paul von Praun (1548-1616), Nuremberg and Bologna; thence by continuous descent within his family.
Sibylle Mertens-Schaaffhausen (1797-1857), Cologne and Rome, acquired from the above, 1839.
Catalogue des collections laissées par feu Madame Mertens Schaaffhausen, seconde partie, J.M. Heberle (H. Lempertz), Cologne, 12 July 1859, lot 510.
M.H. Story Maskelyne (1823-1911), Wroughton, Wiltshire.
William Arnold-Forster (1886-1951), Cornwall and London, acquired from the above.
Catalogue of the Story-Maskelyne Collection of Ancient Gems, the Property of W.E. Arnold Forster, Esq., Sotheby's, London, 4-5 July 1921, lot 96.
with Spink & Son, London, acquired from the above (according to auctioneer's book).
Giorgio Sangiorgi (1886-1965), Rome, acquired and brought to Switzerland, late 1930s; thence by continuous descent to the current owner.

C.W. King, Antique Gems: Their Origin, Uses, and Value, London, 1866, pp. lix, 41.
C.W. King, Antique Gems and Rings, vol. 2, London, 1872, p. 49, pl. 15, no. 1.
C.W. King, Handbook of Engraved Gems, London, 1885, p. 227, pl. 48, no. 2.
Burlington Fine Arts Club Exhibition of Ancient Greek Art, London, 1904, p. 189, no. 46, pl. 108.

London, Burlington Fine Arts Club, Exhibition of Ancient Greek Art, 1904.

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Lot Essay

The flat oval ring stone is engraved with a profile nude bust of Apollo. The god has long hair bound in a broad fillet, the ties fluttering behind, with flowing locks below gathered on his shoulders in a thin band near the tips. The stone is mounted as a ring in an elaborate 19th century gold setting.
For another bust of Apollo with similar hair, see the carnelian ring stone in Vienna, no. 122 in E. Simon, “Apollon/Apollo,” in LIMC, vol. II.