Details

LOT 0043

Egypto-Roman Red Carnelian Soknopaios Gemstone in Gold Ring

1ST-2ND CENTURY A.D.

1 in. (5.23 grams, 23.98 mm overall, 18.87 mm internal diameter (approximate size British Q 1/2, USA 8 1/4, Europe 18.12, Japan 17)).

The 19th century ring with D-section hoop expanding at the shoulders; the oval intaglio engraved with a seated woman offering food or drink from a cup to a creature with the body of a crocodile and a falcon head; accompanied by a custom-made display case and impression.

Provenance

Acquired in the 1980s.
with Christie's, Ancient Jewellery, 7 December 2006, lot 277.

Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.11779-204569.

Literature

Cf. Dosoo, K., Galoppin, T., ‘Animals in Graeco-Egyptian Magical Practice’ in Dosoo, K., Coulon, C., Magic Zōon, Animal and Magica from the Antiquity to the Middle Ages, Aubervilliers, 2022, pp.203-256; for images of Soknopaios see Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 30.8.307; the Walters Art Museum, accession no.22.347; for magical gems with an image of a falcon-headed crocodile, see the Bibliothèque nationale de France, Cabinet des Médailles, inventory no.CBd-3289.

Footnotes

An important creator god, Soknopaios is depicted here with the crocodile body of Sobek and the falcon head of Re. It has been suggested that the falcon head of Soknopaios alludes to association with the goddess Isis's son Horus. It can also depict an image of the so-called ‘nine shaped one’ (εννεάμορφος), a figure mentioned several times in the magical rituals written in Greek but with a strong Egyptian religious background. This deity is often understood as the bios (i.e. an incarnation) of the supreme god Amun-Re, often accompanied by a surrounding ouroboros serpent.