PROBABLY 18TH CENTURY RATHER THAN EARLIER

Details

A ROMAN STYLE CORNELIAN INTAGLIO WITH PORTRAIT OF THE EMPRESS PLOTINA
PROBABLY 18TH CENTURY RATHER THAN EARLIER
Cut with draped bust of Plotina, with finely braided hair and long plait falling down her neck and curled up at the end, wearing high stephane, with draped neckline, in later ring setting, 1.5 x 1.5 cm., 2 cm. across inner hoop; and a finely carved cornelian scarab, the base engraved with a grotesque of a bearded man wearing conical hat, holding a staff, and carrying on his back a dead crane, pierced longitudinally, in later swivel ring setting, 2.2 x 1.6 cm., 2.3 cm. across inner hoop (2)

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis

Lot Essay

Item one: for an ancient coin type and family portraits of Trajan and Plotina, cf. G. M. A. Richter, Gems of the Romans, London, 1971, p. 112, nos 542-543. For an 18th Century cornelian example, cf. M. Henig, M. Whiting and D. Scarisbrick, Classical Gems, Ancient and Modern Intaglios and Cameos in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, 1994, p. 294, no. 615.

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