Lot Essay
For the ring type see nos. 43F and 43G in Higgins, Greek and Roman Jewellery.
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CIRCA 4TH CENTURY B.C.
Details
AN ETRUSCAN GOLD AND BANDED AGATE FINGER RING
circa 4th century b.c.
With a hollow hoop, rounded on the exterior, flat on the interior, joined to a large oval convex bezel which is ornamented with a border of tongue enclosing a band with two pair of opposing S-volutes, with palmettes at each end, set with a banded agate oval (presumably a scarab) engraved with a maenad, her head thrown back in Dionysiac ecstasy, her sleeved chiton billowing up above her waist, holding a thrysus in her right hand, grasping the hind legs of a small animal, perhaps a hare, in her left, enclosed within a hatched border
Size 8
circa 4th century b.c.
With a hollow hoop, rounded on the exterior, flat on the interior, joined to a large oval convex bezel which is ornamented with a border of tongue enclosing a band with two pair of opposing S-volutes, with palmettes at each end, set with a banded agate oval (presumably a scarab) engraved with a maenad, her head thrown back in Dionysiac ecstasy, her sleeved chiton billowing up above her waist, holding a thrysus in her right hand, grasping the hind legs of a small animal, perhaps a hare, in her left, enclosed within a hatched border
Size 8