SEVERAN PERIOD, CIRCA LATE 2ND-EARLY 3RD CENTURY A.D.

Name: A ROMAN ROCK CRYSTAL RINGSTONE WITH A MALE PORTRAIT BUST
Brand: SEVERAN PERIOD, CIRCA LATE 2ND-EARLY 3RD CENTURY A.D.
Price: 16000.00 USD
Availability: SoldOut

Price Realised USD 20,160

Estimate

USD 12,000 - USD 18,000

Closed: 14 Apr 2022

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A ROMAN ROCK CRYSTAL RINGSTONE WITH A MALE PORTRAIT BUST

SEVERAN PERIOD, CIRCA LATE 2ND-EARLY 3RD CENTURY A.D.

Price Realised USD 20,160

Closed: 14 Apr 2022

Price Realised USD 20,160

Closed: 14 Apr 2022

Details Lot Essay Related Articles More from

1¹⁄₄ in. (3.2 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. 171, no. 157.

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Lot Essay

This large convex ringstone is engraved with a nude bust of a man. Despite the distinctive physiognomy and the large size of the stone, which suggests he is from the upper strata of society, his identity is not known. He has short curly hair and a short beard, much like the Emperor Caracalla, to whose reign this likely dates. In the field is a star and a crescent moon, devices found on some Roman Imperial coins from eastern mints, as well as on Sasanian gems. For a gem of similar style and quality, compare the portrait of Caracalla in Paris, no. 233 in M.-L. Vollenweider and M. Avisseau-Broustet, .