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Details
LOT 0170
Byzantine Turreted Gold Ring with Architectural Jasper Gemstone
CIRCA 6TH-8TH CENTURY A.D.
1 1/4 in. (6.43 grams, 28.80 mm overall, 17.80 mm internal diameter (approximate size British O, USA 7 1/2, Europe 17.5, Japan 14).).
Comprising a flat-section body composed of intersecting rings and pellets, turreted bezel with carinated body set with a polished jasper cabochon, incuse image of a tower with flanking palm trees.
Provenance
Ex K collection, London, 1990s.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.12969-246373.
Literature
Cf. Chadour, A.B., Rings. The Alice and Louis Koch Collection, volume I, Leeds, 1994, item 497, for type.
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LOT 0170
Byzantine Turreted Gold Ring with Architectural Jasper Gemstone
Sold for (Inc. bp): £2,860
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This magnificent, if fragmentary, icon belongs to the most florid period of Byzantium’s renaissance, when, under the aegis of the Macedonian Dynasty, the political, military, cultural and economic power of the Roman Empire reached the last apex of its glory. The figure detailed in bloodstone here represents Christ, as is clear not only from the cross engraved on the back, but also from the garments he is wearing. It is likely that it is Christ as Pantocrator who is represented, maybe originally forming part of a more complex icon representing the Deesis. While this subject in Eastern Roman art is usually reserved for monumental decoration, it is sometimes found on smaller-scale objects as well, such as cameos and steatite icons.
