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Intaglio Jewelry :
Classical Revival Seal Rings : Gold Ring Featuring a Classical Revival Garnet Intaglio of an Allegorical Scene
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Gold Ring Featuring a Classical Revival Garnet Intaglio of an Allegorical Scene - FJ.6662
Origin: Europe
Circa: 18
th
Century AD
to 19
th
Century AD
Collection: Jewelry
Style: Classical Revival Intaglio Rings
Medium: Garnet and Gold
$4,800.00
Location: United States
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| Description |
This Antique Seal Has Been Set in a Modern 18
Karat Gold Ring
The art of glyptics, or carving images on colored
precious stones, is probably one of the oldest
known to humanity. Intaglios, gems with an
incised design, were made as early as the fourth
and third millennia B.C. in Mesopotamia and the
Aegean Islands. They exhibit a virtuosity of
execution that suggests an old and stable
tradition rooted in the earliest centuries. The
tools required for carving gems were simple: a
wheel with a belt-drive and a set of drills.
Abrasives were necessary since the minerals
used were too hard for a metal edge. A special
difficulty of engraving intaglios, aside from their
miniature size, was that the master had to work
with a mirror-image in mind.
The Classical Revival was a phenomenon that
swept across Europe during the 18th and 19th
Centuries. A new appreciation for antiquity and
ancient art forms was fostered by discoveries in
the nascent scientific field of archaeology.
Perhaps the Classical Revival also reveals a latent
longing towards the Arcadian lifestyles of
yesterday abandoned as Europe became rapidly
industrialized and increasingly urbanized. On
this stunning intaglio, a masked lion kneels
before an altar. There also appears to be a small
bird riding on the back of the lion.
Unfortunately, this meaning of this scene has
been lost. What appear to us to be a random
assortment of image would, to the Ancient
Romans, been clearly recognized and easily
understood. Although we might not understand
the complex imagery, we can appreciate the
elegance of this ring. Alas, the beauty of a ring
such as this is as timeless as the classics it was
inspired by.
- (FJ.6662)
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