ROMAN REPUBLIC, CIRCA 1ST CENTURY B.C.

Details

A ROMAN CARNELIAN RINGSTONE WITH A MASK OF A MAENAD
ROMAN REPUBLIC, CIRCA 1ST CENTURY B.C.
½ in. (1.1 cm.) wide; ring size 4 ½

Provenance

M.H. Nevil Story-Maskelyne (1823-1911), Wroughton, Wiltshire, acquired by 1872; 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 140.
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

C.W. King, Antique Gems and Rings, London, 1872, vol. II, p. 58, pl. XXXI, no. 8.
C.W. King, Handbook of Engraved Gems, London, 1885, p. 234, pl. LXII, no. 5.
C.W. King and H.A.J. Munro, Q. Horatii Flacci Opera, Illustrated from Antique Gems, London, 1869, p. 351.

Conditions of sale

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Hannah Fox Solomon Head of Department, Specialist

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Lot Essay

This frontal comic mask of a maenad wearing a wreath of ivy has been known since at least the mid 19th century, when a drawing of it was first published in 1872 by C.W. King. In J.D. Beazley’s catalog entry for the Story-Maskelyne auction, he considered it a “charming work.” The gem is mounted as a ring in a 19th century gold setting; the interior of the hoop is incised 140, which corresponds with the Story-Maskelyne auction lot number.

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