Ancient Art, Antiquities, Books, Natural History & Coins

Featuring three intaglios: on the left, a carnelian intaglio of Minerva holding a winged figure of Victory in her hand, shield and spear on the field; at the centre, a green plasma intaglio of Omphale with club and lionskin; at the far right, a carnelian intaglio of a cupid stirring a bucket with a stick, a rare motif; set in a later Georgian-style gold ring. 8.92 grams, 25.35 mm overall, 19.62 x 17.86 mm internal diameter (approximate size British O 1/2, USA 7 1/4, Europe 15.61, Japan 15)



Acquired on the European art market. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13364-257949.

Gems decorated with depictions of main deities of the Roman pantheon include gems with portraits of Jupiter or Jupiter Nikephoros, goddess Athena-Minerva or Minerva Romae, patron of Rome, Mars as Mars Ultor or Victor Tropaeophoros, and Victoria, goddess of victory.

Comprising a heavy facetted hoop and a wide rectangular bezel set with a tall intaglio with goddess Fortuna or Concordia, standing and holding a cornucopia. and a rudder. 25.07 grams, 23.40 mm overall, 18.18 x 12.80 mm internal diameter (approximate size British H, USA 3 3/4, Europe 6.18, Japan 6)



Acquired on the European art market. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13340-257983.

The ring belongs to the type VI, Variant 1, of the Ruseva-Slokoska classification. These rings, typical of the 3rd century, were often decorated with the image of the Goddess Concordia, because employed in wedding ceremonies. Sometimes they show the image of the clasped hands, or are reporting the inscription HOMONO (Latin), from the Greek omonoa (Concordia = Concord).

Ellipsoid with chamfered edge, incuse grazing horse image on a baseline; set into a later gold ring; supplied with a museum-quality impression. 7.72 grams, 23.21 mm overall, 18.46 x 18.02 mm internal diameter (approximate size British Q, USA 8, Europe 17.49, Japan 16)



Private collection, Europe. Acquired on the English art market. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13165-248341.

Comprising a thick hoop expanding at the shoulders, the bezel with a standing hedgehog on a baseline with detailed spines. 7.53 grams, 20.12 mm overall, 15.03 mm internal diameter (approximate size British F 1/2, USA 3, Europe 4.3, Japan 4)



Private collection, 1990s-early 2000s.

An oval intaglio depicting Mithras, a snake and a dog killing a bull, six stars on the field; set in a later gold ring; supplied with a museum-quality impression. 9.93 grams, 23.61 mm overall, 18.88 mm internal diameter (approximate size British R 1/2, USA 8 3/4, Europe 19.38, Japan 18)



English private collection. Reportedly acquired several decades ago in Covent Garden, London, still mounted in its original, heavily corroded iron ring; removed from this setting and remounted in a gold ring in recent years by the owner, a commercial airline pilot. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13325-28218.

The interpretation of the Mithraic tauroctony has long been the subject of scholarly debate. The Belgian historian of religions and orientalist Franz Cumont (1868–1947) was the first to propose that the scene should be understood as an astral allegory rather than a purely mythological episode. More recently, David Ulansey developed this hypothesis by interpreting the tauroctony as a symbolic representation of the precession of the equinoxes. In his reading, Mithras—identified with the constellation Perseus—embodies the supreme cosmic power capable of moving the sphere of the fixed stars, while the slaying of the bull symbolises the transition from one cosmic age to another, expressing Mithras' dominion over the celestial order itself.

Hollow-formed and widening at the shoulders to a high elliptical bezel set with a black and white banded glass intaglio imitating striped sardonyx, depicting a running boar in profile on a baseline; Greek letters KΠ on the surface under the boar; supplied with a museum-quality impression. 1.93 grams, 22.40 mm overall, 15.77 mm internal diameter (approximate size British J, USA 4 3/4, Europe 8.69, Japan 8)



Ex private collection, Contessa L.G., since the 1980s. Private collection, acquired in 1997.

The motif and style, a running boar with a tube-like body, seem to fit into Boardman's Wyndham Cook Group, and could be ascribed to the Graeco-Persian period, despite the fact that the gemstone was later incorporated into a Roman ring.

Comprising a hollow-form round-section hoop widening towards the shoulders, set with a table-cut garnet or paste with foil backing, polished. 1.55 grams, 21.78 mm overall, 15.63 x 14.16 mm internal diameter (approximate size British H 1/2, USA 4, Europe 6.81, Japan 6)



From the old family collection of a West Country, UK, lady; acquired by descent from her grandfather circa 2001.

The ring belongs to the variant 3, type 1, of the Slokovska classification. The type of ring is characteristic of the Early Imperial Age. Similar rings with the same typology of gemstones have been found in Kerch as well.

With slender hoop and integral cell bezel, inset amethyst cabochon. 1.34 grams, 17.24 mm overall, 10.57 x 11.34 mm internal diameter



Ex German art market, 2000s. Acquired from an EU collector living in London. From the collection of a Surrey, UK, gentleman.

Solid ring inset with an intaglio of a guttus (pitcher) with socle foot and handle; supplied with a museum-quality impression. 0.87 grams, 9.77 mm overall, 7.20 mm internal diameter



Private English collection, formed between the late 1970s and early 1990s. Private collection, UK.

The hoop with flaring shoulders and an oval bezel set with a jasper intaglio engraved with a winged Amore (Erote) standing beneath a tree bearing grapevines, another Amore climbing up a ladder propped against the trunk; supplied with a museum-quality impression. 6.77 grams, 22.48 mm overall, 18.92 x 17.38 mm internal diameter (approximate size British R , USA 8 1/2, Europe 18 3/4, Japan 18)



Acquired on the European art market. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13344-257956.

According to A. Furtwängler, the Amores are working on the olive harvest. The vintaging scenes, whether illustrating a realistic portrait of a vineyard or an abstract display of vintaging Erotes working among vine rinceaux, include realistic elements of agricultural practice. The tools and farming implements used, the method of viticulture employed, and the various stages of wine production need to be carefully observed.

Translucent oval intaglio featuring a standing gryllus wearing a gryphon-headed helmet, flanked by the inscription 'KAΛHI' meaning 'to the beautiful one'; set in a later gold ring with a D-section hoop; supplied with a museum-quality impression. 9.29 grams, 23.83 mm overall, 20.32 x 17.88 mm internal diameter (approximate size British R 1/2, USA 8 3/4, Europe 19.38, Japan 18)



Acquired on the European art market. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13322-257896.

Fanciful combinations of various human and animal heads, sometimes with the addition of other elements, are generally called grylloi. These fantastic devices were more than mere artists' fancies and were worn by the ancient Romans and others for their supposed efficacy in averting the evil eye.

Finely engraved Roman carnelian intaglio showing nude winged Amor in front of a pillar with his weapons, helmet, shield, and spear, putting on a shin guard, standing before an altar, set in a later gold ring; supplied with a museum-quality impression. 3.55 grams, 21.09 mm overall, 18.46 mm internal diameter (approximate size British Q, USA 8, Europe 17.49, Japan 16)



Acquired on the European art market. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13323-258009.

This particular iconography shows the god of love arming himself, standing in front of an altar surmounted by a helmet, and with a hoplon shield at its bottom. He is putting a greave on his right leg, and a spear occupies the central part of the scene. Figuratively, Amor is maybe represented arming himself for a 'love deed'. But the scene can be referred to the battle against the Titans, to which all the Olympian gods took part.