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HOME :
Intaglio Jewelry :
Classical Revival Seal Rings : Carnelian Intaglio depicting an Empress or Goddess
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Carnelian Intaglio depicting an Empress or Goddess - FJ.6430
Origin: Europe
Circa: 1700
AD
to 1800
AD
Collection: Seal Rings/ Intaglios
Style: Classical Revival Style
Medium: Carnelian-Gold
Additional Information: Korea
$4,800.00
Location: United States
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| Description |
This intaglio is set in an 18 karat
gold ring
The art of glyptics, or carving 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 BC in Mesopotamia
and
Aegean Islands. They display 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.
When the revitalization of interest in
classical
studies swept through the wealthy
classes of the
eighteenth century, artists and
engravers went
on pilgrimages in the name of art to
study in
Rome. They made exhaustive studies of
ancient
coins and statuary searching for
suitable models
for their intaglio engravings. The
lovely head of
this woman no doubt comes from such a
source,
bearing a marked resemblance to the
empress
Julia Domna (wife of emperor Septimius
Severus
A.D.193-211), as seen on her coinage.
She may
in fact be a goddess, for to the
ancient Romans
great empresses and deities were often
one and
the same person after deification. The
engraving
is particularly fine, with her
handsome profile,
elaborate coiffure and very delicate
strand of
hair, or perhaps a long earring,
hanging straight
down to the middle of her neck. Seeing
this
intaglio, it is no wonder aristocrats
and
noblemen took such delight in their
intaglio
rings.
- (FJ.6430)
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