A GREEK SILVER & NIELLO INTAGLIO RING DEPICTING A CUPID

拍品描述

A GREEK SILVER AND GOLD RING WITH CARNELIAN INTAGLIO OF CUPID RIDING A DOLPHIN, HELLENISTIC WORLD, CIRCA 3RD-1ST CENTURY B.C. Of substantial form, the silver hoop rising from a plain shank incised on the shoulders with linear geometric ornament to a broad octagonal bezel plate, this in turn set with a circular gold collar secured by prominent beaded rivets around its perimeter. The collar encloses an oval carnelian of deep orange tone, engraved in intaglio with a winged Cupid astride a dolphin, the small figure shown in profile with wings extended, seated on the back of the sea creature which arcs beneath him through stylised waves. The engraving is confidently cut in the small compass typical of Hellenistic gem work, the composition filling the field with economy. The subject of Eros riding a dolphin is among the most enduring images of Hellenistic and later Roman glyptic art. The pairing brings together two forces of the Greek imagination: the winged god of desire, and the dolphin, creature sacred to Aphrodite and companion of Poseidon, associated with safe passage across the sea and with the passage of the soul. The image carried apotropaic and amuletic force for the wearer, and was particularly favoured on personal seals, where the small scale of the gem lent itself to intimate iconography. The motif circulated widely in the eastern Mediterranean from the later fourth century onward and was carried into Roman practice with little alteration. Carnelian was the preferred stone for engraved gems throughout antiquity, valued for its warm translucency, its ease of cutting relative to harder quartzes, and above all for the clean impression it took in wax when used as a seal. The combination of a carnelian intaglio in a gold collar mounted upon a silver hoop reflects a common hierarchy in Hellenistic finger rings, where the gold frame serves both to protect the stone and to honour it, while the more substantial silver body carries the ring on the hand. The heavy weight of the present example, together with the broad bezel plate and beaded goldwork, points to a ring intended for a person of standing, likely used in the sealing of documents and correspondence. This ring exemplifies the persistence of the engraved gem as the principal instrument of personal identity in the Hellenistic world, where the small carnelian intaglio, mounted in precious metal and worn on the finger, functioned at once as ornament, seal, and amulet. The Cupid and dolphin motif places the piece securely within the Aphrodisian iconographic repertoire that spread across the Greek east in the wake of Alexander. Dimensions: Diameter of stone: 1 cm. Internal diameter: 2 cm.

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