A GREEK PLASMA (GREEN CHALCEDONY) RING STONE

HELLENISTIC PERIOD, CIRCA 2ND CENTURY B.C.

Details

A GREEK PLASMA (GREEN CHALCEDONY) RING STONE
Hellenistic Period, Circa 2nd Century B.C.
The flat oval stone finely engraved with a portrait head of a philosopher or man of learning, in profile to the right, depicted with a bald pate, a short fringe of hair at the back of his head, with a strongly modeled brow, creases at the corner of his articulated eye, a pug nose, and thick beard and mustache; mounted as a ring in a modern gold setting
1 1/16 in. (2.7 cm) wide; ring size 9

Provenance

Lilian Dwyer, Cork, Ireland, 1930s

Lot Essay

Although there are some similarities to gem portraits of Socrates, in particular the small pug nose, the details of the beard differ, so too the general expression. Vollenweider describes a nearly identical portrait on an orange agate ring stone in Paris as that of a "thinker." See no. 270 in Vollenweider, Camées et intailles, Tome I, Les Portraits grecs du Cabinet des médailles, Catalogue Raisonné.

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