CIRCA 4TH CENTURY B.C.

Details

AN ETRUSCAN CARNELIAN SCARAB WITH HERCLE
CIRCA 4TH CENTURY B.C.
11/16 in. (1.7 cm.) long; ring size 6 ¾

Provenance

M.H. Nevil Story-Maskelyne (1823-1911), Wroughton, Wiltshire, acquired 1860-1899; thence by descent to his son-in-law, William Arnold-Forster (1886-1951), Cornwall.
Catalogue of the Story-Maskelyne Collection of Ancient Gems, the Property of W.E. Arnold Forster, Esq., Sotheby's, London, 4-5 July 1921, lot 52 (part).
Landsberg, acquired from the above (according to auctioneer’s book).
Marjorie Bronfman (1917-2012), Montreal, acquired by 1978; gifted to her daughter, Dr. Corinne Bronfman (1947-2022), Washington, D.C.; thence by descent to the current owner.

Literature

A. Furtwängler, Die Antiken Gemmen: Geschichte der Steinschneidekunst im Klassischen Altertum, Leipzig und Berlin, 1900, vol. 1, pl. XX, no. 28; vol. 2, p. 98, no. 28.
P. Zazoff, Etruskische Skarabäen, Mainz am Rhein, 1968, p. 165, no. 681.

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Hannah Fox Solomon Head of Department, Specialist

hsolomon@christies.com +1 212 636 2256

Lot Essay

The well-detailed beetle features a hatched plinth. The underside is engraved with Hercle, depicted nude, with his club behind him. He leans forward to catch water from a fountain that streams from above into his lionskin that he holds out before him. The scene is enclosed within a hatched border. The scarab is mounted as a swivel ring in a 19th century gold setting; the interior is incised with the number 52, which corresponds with the lot number from the Story-Maskelyne auction.

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