Lot 219
Lot 219
MASTERPIECES IN MINIATURE, PART II: ANCIENT ENGRAVED GEMS FORMERLY IN THE G. SANGIORGI COLLECTION
A ROMAN CARNELIAN RINGSTONE WITH A BULL

CIRCA 1ST CENTURY B.C.

    Price Realised USD 4,375
    Estimate
    USD 3,000 - USD 5,000
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    A ROMAN CARNELIAN RINGSTONE WITH A BULL

    CIRCA 1ST CENTURY B.C.

    Price Realised USD 4,375
    Price Realised USD 4,375
    • Details
    • Lot Essay
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    Details
    3⁄4 in. (1.9 cm.) wide
    Provenance
    Giorgio Sangiorgi (1886-1965), Rome, acquired and brought to Switzerland, late 1930s; thence by continuous descent to the current owner.
    Literature
    J. Boardman and C. Wagner, Masterpieces in Miniature: Engraved Gems from Prehistory to the Present, London, 2018, p. 213, no. 199.
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    Lot Essay


    The flat circular stone is engraved with a charging bull before a shrine set on a rocky outcrop. The bull is on a thick groundline with its head lowered and turned out. A gnarled tree rooted in the outcrop fills the space above. The stone is mounted as a ring in a 19th century gold setting.
    The subject is known from other gems but the meaning of the association of the bull with the shrine is not known. For a related example and a list of others see no. 657 in E. Zwierlein-Diehl, Glaspaasten im Martin-Von-Wagner-Museum der Universität Würzburg.

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