Lot 32
Lot 32
A ROMAN CARNELIAN RINGSTONE WITH TWO WARRIORS

REPUBLICAN PERIOD, CIRCA MID 1ST CENTURY B.C.

Price Realised USD 126,000
Estimate
USD 6,000 - USD 8,000
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A ROMAN CARNELIAN RINGSTONE WITH TWO WARRIORS

REPUBLICAN PERIOD, CIRCA MID 1ST CENTURY B.C.

Price Realised USD 126,000
Price Realised USD 126,000
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Details
1316 in. (2.1 cm.) long
Provenance
Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel (1586-1646), Arundel House, London; thence by descent to his wife, Aletheia Talbot Howard (1585-1654), Arundel House, London; thence by gift to her son, Henry Frederick Howard, 22nd Earl of Arundel (1608-1652), Arundel House, London; thence by descent to his son, Henry Howard, 6th Duke of Norfolk (1628-1684), Arundel House, London; thence by descent to his widow, 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 descent to his daughter, Lady Mary Mordant (1659-1705), Drayton House, Northamptonshire; thence by descent to her husband, Sir John Germain (1650-1718), Drayton House, Northamptonshire; thence by descent to his second wife, Lady Elizabeth Germain (1680-1769), Knole House, Kent; thence by descent to her great-niece, Mary Beauclerk (1743-1812), England, given to her on the occasion of her marriage to Charles Spencer (1740-1820).
George Spencer, 4th Duke of Marlborough (1739-1817), Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, gifted from the above, circa 1765; thence by descent to his son, George Spencer-Churchill, 5th Duke of Marlborough (1766-1840), Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire; thence by descent to his son, George Spencer-Churchill, 6th Duke of Marlborough (1793–1857), Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire; thence by descent to his son, 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 346.
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 346.
with Francis E. Whelan (1848-1907), London, acquired from the above (according to auctioneer's book).
Paul Julius Arndt (1865-1937), Munich, acquired by 1922 (Impression of gem preserved in In Memoriam: Collezione Paul Arndt).
Giorgio Sangiorgi (1886-1965), Rome, acquired and brought to Switzerland, late 1930s; thence by continuous descent to the current owner.
Literature
18th century manuscript of the Arundel Collection, no. A 62.
A. Fountaine, The Arundel Cabinet, London, 1731, p. 3, no. A 62.
M.P. Lévesque de Gravelle, Recueil de pierres gravées antiques, Paris, 1737, vol. 2, pp. 65-66, pl. LXXXV.
R.E. Raspe and J. Tassie, A Descriptive Catalogue of a General Collection of Ancient and Modern Engraved Gems, Cameos as well as Intaglios, Taken from the most Celebrated Cabinets in Europe, London, 1791, vol. 1, p. 427, no. 7372.
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. 62, no. 346.
S. Reinach, Pierres gravées des collections Marlborough et d'Orléans, Paris, 1895, p. 82, no. 85, pl. 80.
A. Furtwängler, Die antiken Gemmen: Geschichte der Steinschneidekunst im Klassischen Altertum, Leipzig and Berlin, 1900, vol. 1, pl. 65, no. 38, vol. 2, p. 301, no. 38.
G. Lippold, Gemmen und Kameen des Altertums und der Neuzeit, Stuttgart, 1922, p. 177, pl. LIII, no. 10.
M.-L. Vollenweider, Die Steinschneidekunst und ihre Künstler in spätrepublikanischer und augusteischer Zeit, Baden-Baden, 1966, pp. 52, 109, pl. 50, 3.
J. Boardman, et al., The Marlborough Gems, Formerly at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, London, 2009, p. 103, no. 176.
J. Boardman, J. Kagan and C. Wagner, Natter's Museum Britannicum, British Gem Collections and Collectors of the Mid-Eighteenth Century, Oxford, 2017, p. 194, no. 457.
J. Boardman and C. Wagner, Masterpieces in Miniature: Engraved Gems from Prehistory to the Present, London, 2018, p. 193, no. 179.
Brought to you by
Hannah Fox SolomonHead of Department, Specialist
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Lot Essay

Finely-engraved on this thin, flat oval ringstone are two warriors in conversation, one standing and one seated on a rock, all on a thick groundline. The standing warrior is at ease with one leg crossing the other and one arm akimbo, leaning on his spear. He is nude but for a cloak over his shoulders and draped over his lowered arm. The seated warrior is also nude, with his cloak around his waist, resting his hand on the pommel of his sword, which is point-down on his thigh.

Earlier scholars suggested various mythological interpretations for this celebrated gem, including Orestes and Pylades at the tomb of Agamemnon or Antilochos announcing the death of Patroclus to Achilles, while Vollenweider thought it was more historical, connected to Octavian and Caesar. Boardman and Wagner believe that the scene is one of mourning for a lost comrade.

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