Etruscan Agate Talismanic Scarab

LATE 4TH-EARLY 3RD CENTURY B.C.

3/4 in. (3.53 grams, 18 mm).

Carved from banded orange agate and formed as a flattened scarab with a striated carapace, pierced for suspension.

Provenance

UK private collection, acquired on the English market in the 2000s.

Literature

Cf. similar Etrusco-Roman scarabs in Van den Bercken, B.J.L., Baan, V.C.P., Engraved Gems from Antiquity to Present, Leiden, 2017, pp.155-162, figs.1-11.

Footnotes

The shape of an Etruscan scarab includes: (1) the scarab gem, where the engraving of the curved back of the stone more or less faithfully imitates the anatomical parts of the scarab beetle; (2) the scaraboid, which retains the overall shape of the scarab gem but with little or no engraving on the curved backside; and (3) the pseudo-scarab, which has an image carved in relief on its curved backside instead of a beetle. All three types have a flat, oval underside which carries an engraved miniature image (device) within a decorated border which is usually hatched.

CONDITION

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LOT 0079