1ST CENTURY B.C./A.D.

Details

A ROMAN CORNELIAN INTAGLIO WITH GRYLLUS
1ST CENTURY B.C./A.D.
The device with the legs of a bird, tail in the form of an eagle's head holding a wreath in its beak, head of a bald, bearded man on its chest, head and neck of a bridled horse holding a lizard in its mouth, and wings of a griffin, ontop of which sits a minute locust who holds the reins of the horse in its mouth, a sheath of wheat in front, on groundline, in 19th Century ring setting
1.1 x 0.8 cm.; 1.6 cm. across inner hoop

Special notice

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Lot Essay

For similar examples, cf. Furtwängler, Antiken Gemmen, pl. XLVI, no. 33; Berry, Ancient Gems, p. 82, no. 149; Boardman, Ionides, p. 99, no. 51; Richter, Gems of the Romans, p. 78, nos. 384-386; Henig, Lewis Collection, p. 40, no. 144; and Maaskant-Kleibrink, Royal Coin Cabinet, pp. 346-349, nos. 1081-1091.

The term "gryllus" is often applied to intaglios with fantastic combinations of human heads and animal parts. The term is actually derived from a remark made by Pliny about a painter, Antiphilos, who "painted a figure in an absurd costume known by the joking name of Gryllus" (i.e. a cricket). The interpretation of combination gems is not always clear but there is no doubt that they were considered to have apotropaic or prophylactic properties.

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