CIRCA 2ND CENTURY B.C., BACTRIAN

Details

AN INDO-GREEK SQUARE-CUT ROCK CRYSTAL INTAGLIO OF A BULL
CIRCA 2ND CENTURY B.C., BACTRIAN
Carved with a humped bull, crouching, his left foreleg bent under, tail curled round his left back leg, an inscription around the scene, in later ring setting
1.5 x 1.5 cm.; 1.9 cm. across inner hoop

Provenance

Reynolds collection.
Collection of James Carnegie, Earl of Southesk (1827-1905); acquired Reynolds, 1881.

Special notice

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Lot Essay

PUBLISHED:
Lady Helena Carnegie (ed.), Catalogue of the collection of antique gems formed by James, Ninth Earl of Southesk, K.T., London, 1908, I, pp. 4-5, no. P9, pl. 1.

A catalogue note reads: "Of this gem Mr Jacob writes: 'A square seal, Bactrian. It is the reverse of Apollodotus; there are also coins like it in silver'. I fail to understand the exact meaning, unless it be that the present device resembles that on the reverse of Apollodotus. The inscription is very long, and must contain more than the proper name referred to. The material is pretty and the work above the average".

This device of the bull with inscription can be found on silver coins from the reign of the Bactrian king, Apollodotus I (circa 174-165 B.C.).

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