CIRCA LATE 4TH-EARLY 3RD CENTURY B.C.

Details

TWO GRAECO-PERSIAN SCARABOIDS
CIRCA LATE 4TH-EARLY 3RD CENTURY B.C.
One of opaque pale red carnelian, attributed to the Bern Group, engraved with a woman seated on a chair, wearing a long chiton and a pigtail, holding a round object out before her, perhaps a flower or pomegranate; and one of brownish-gray chalcedony, in the a globolo style engraved with a Centaur wielding a branch in his upraised hand
13/16 in. (2 cm.) and 15/16 in. (2.3 cm.) long (2)

Provenance

Acquired by the current owner in 1979 (carnelian) and 1967 (chalcedony).

Special notice

This lot is offered without reserve.

Lot Essay

For the Bern Group see Boardman, Greek Gems and Finger Rings, pp. 320-321. According to Boardman these gems display a "softness of contour to the figures, bulging drilled bodies and some odd stylisations" to the details of heads and limbs. For a gem with a similar seated woman, from the North-West Frontier of India, see no. 71 in Henig, Classical Gems, Ancient and Modern Intaglios and Cameos in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.

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