⁷⁄₈ in. (2.2 cm.) wide

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

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Lot Essay

The ring has a flat, oval bezel with inward-sloping sides tapering into the plain hoop, round in section. Set within the bezel is a flat carnelian ringstone engraved with a wolf attacking a goat, the canine biting the goat’s neck, the goat with its head lowered. The composition is on a thin groundline with a tree in the background. For another carnelian gem with a wolf (or fox?) attacking a goat, but in the more usual compact configuration with the aggressor attacking from above, see no. 495 in C. Wagner and J. Boardman, A Collection of Classical and Eastern Intaglios, Rings and Cameos.