This genuine antique Classical Revival intaglio
has been set in a modern 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 the
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.
Master engravers of the eighteenth century took
a keen interest in Classical antiquities, as did
their patrons, and often made detailed studies of
ancient art work, particularly sculpture and coins.
Sometimes the more mythical the subject the
better; and this charming intaglio is a perfect
example. On the gorgeous rich orange-red
Carnelian is a Rhython, a curious beast with a
head like a deer and the body of a vessel. Rython
vessels were popular in the Greek period, just as
they still are in Germany where one can see stags
carved on fine porcelain. The graceful elegance
of the intaglio is equalled by the lovely ornate
design of the ring, with its delicate beads of gold
forming a pattern around the center. The person
who wears this ring joins others of a privileged
class who appreciate beautiful jewelry with a
classical flair.
- (FJ.6342)
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