Lot 87
87
A ROMAN GOLD AND CARNELIAN RING
GEMS AND JEWELRY
A ROMAN GOLD AND CARNELIAN RING

Details
A ROMAN GOLD AND CARNELIAN RING
CIRCA LATE 1ST CENTURY B.C.

The hollow ring with a plain hoop, rounded on the exterior, flat on the interior, which rises to an oval bezel set with a carnelian gem engraved with the profile head of a young man wearing a fillet in his carefully arranged hair, with short curls below the fillet in front of his ear and along the back of the neck

Lot Essay

The classizing style of this superb gem suggests that this is a miniature study of a Greek sculpture of the fifth century B.C. A, subject which became popular with wealthy Romans during the early Imperial period. For other examples, see nos. 221 and 231 in Spier, Ancient Gems and Finger Rings, Catalogue of the Collections, The J. Paul Getty Museum.