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Lot Essay
According to John Boardman, the leading scholar of ancient gem-engraving, “this is surely of the finest of all Archaic scarabs…" and "in all but size this is a monumental study” (Archaic Greek Gems, p. 58; op. cit. 1970, pp. 143-144).
This exceptional Greek carnelian scarab is the product of an Ionian workshop based in Etruria. This workshop would have a profound impact on the history of gem-engraving in the region. The beetle is carefully detailed, with stippling on the head, hatching framing the thorax and on the legs, and incised v-winglets, all characteristics that would be popular on Etruscan gems. However, the undecorated plinth upon which the beetle sits and the pronounced carination at the back of the wing case are traits typical of Archaic Greek scarabs but not adopted in Etruria. The device engraved on the underside is framed within an unusual cable border instead of the usual hatching, relatively rare on Greek gems but occasionally used by Etruscan engravers.
Enclosed within the border is a robust nude youth in the Archaic knee-running pose, purely Greek in style, holding the stem of a kantharos in one hand and the handle of a jug in the other. His legs and head are in profile while his upper torso is frontal. There is meticulous attention to the details, especially for the hair that is brushed back behind the ear, but also for the creases on his forehead and neck, the very carefully modeled muscular body, and the upturned toes conforming to the curvature of the enclosing border. As Boardman informs (op. cit., 1970, pp. 143-144) the hairstyle is that of an Ionian kouros (see for example the marble head of a kouros from Samos, pl. 38 in L.H. Jeffery, Archaic Greece, The City-States c. 700-500 B.C. or the bronze rider from the Heraion of Samos, figs. 257-258 in G.M.A. Richter, Archaic Greek Art). The same treatment of the hair is found on East Greek vase-painting as well as on Caeretan hydriae, which, like the gem presented here, were made by Ionians based in Etruria (see for example the hair of a sphinx on a Chian chalice, no. 319, and on figures painted by the Eagle Painter on a Caeretan hydria, nos. 495-496 in J. Boardman, Early Greek Vase Painting).
This exceptional Greek carnelian scarab is the product of an Ionian workshop based in Etruria. This workshop would have a profound impact on the history of gem-engraving in the region. The beetle is carefully detailed, with stippling on the head, hatching framing the thorax and on the legs, and incised v-winglets, all characteristics that would be popular on Etruscan gems. However, the undecorated plinth upon which the beetle sits and the pronounced carination at the back of the wing case are traits typical of Archaic Greek scarabs but not adopted in Etruria. The device engraved on the underside is framed within an unusual cable border instead of the usual hatching, relatively rare on Greek gems but occasionally used by Etruscan engravers.
Enclosed within the border is a robust nude youth in the Archaic knee-running pose, purely Greek in style, holding the stem of a kantharos in one hand and the handle of a jug in the other. His legs and head are in profile while his upper torso is frontal. There is meticulous attention to the details, especially for the hair that is brushed back behind the ear, but also for the creases on his forehead and neck, the very carefully modeled muscular body, and the upturned toes conforming to the curvature of the enclosing border. As Boardman informs (op. cit., 1970, pp. 143-144) the hairstyle is that of an Ionian kouros (see for example the marble head of a kouros from Samos, pl. 38 in L.H. Jeffery, Archaic Greece, The City-States c. 700-500 B.C. or the bronze rider from the Heraion of Samos, figs. 257-258 in G.M.A. Richter, Archaic Greek Art). The same treatment of the hair is found on East Greek vase-painting as well as on Caeretan hydriae, which, like the gem presented here, were made by Ionians based in Etruria (see for example the hair of a sphinx on a Chian chalice, no. 319, and on figures painted by the Eagle Painter on a Caeretan hydria, nos. 495-496 in J. Boardman, Early Greek Vase Painting).