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Jewelry and Seals :
Cameo Jewelry : Gold Ring with Classical Revival Cameo of the River God Achelous
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Gold Ring with Classical Revival Cameo of the River God Achelous - FJ.6229
Origin: Europe
Circa: 1700
AD
to 1900
AD
Collection: Jewelry
Medium: Carnelian and Gold
Additional Information: This Classical Revival Cameo Has Been Set in an 18 Karat Gold Ring
$7,300.00
Location: United States
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| Description |
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.
Achelous was the name of the largest river in
Greece, (presently Aspropotamo, flowing into the
Ionian Sea), named after a son of Poseidon.
Having once been mortal, Achelous was crossing
a river when bit by an arrow. Falling into the
water he was transformed into a deity who could
change into many different forms. In a contest
for the band of beautiful Deianeira, Achelous and
Hercules waged a bitter battle. In the course of
the struggle the river god changed himself into a
bull. Hercules managed to tear off one of the
horns, causing Achelous to concede victory. It is
in the guise as bull we see this allusive deity. The
image is based on a stater from the city of
Thyrrheion (east of Anaktorian, Greece), dated
350 - 250 BC. The cameo even bears the same
Greek inscription spelling out the name of
Achelous. From the glowing carnelian an image
from the fascinating and mysterious Greek myths
comes alive.
- (FJ.6229)
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