LOT 0345

Georgian Gold Ring with Carnelian Gemstone with Head of Papposilenus

ITALY, 18TH CENTURY A.D.

7/8 in. (3.31 grams, 21.59 mm overall, 18.67 mm internal diameter (approximate size British P, USA 7 1/2, Europe 16.23, Japan 15)).

Narrow hoop forked at the shoulders and supporting an oval open-backed setting with a slightly convex orange carnelian intaglio depicting the head of Papposilenus facing, wearing a wreath on his bald head, long beard and open mouth; supplied with a museum-quality impression.

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.13317-257960.

Cf. for a similar example see Pirzio Biroli Stefanelli, L., La Collezione Paoletti, Stampi in vetro per impronte de intagli e cammei, Tomo I, Roma, 2007, cassetto 9, fig. 574.

The image, derived from Graeco-Roman mythology, represents Papposilenus, a semi-bestial figure with a round face dominated by a thick, unkempt beard and a completely bald head. The subject depicted is the eldest Silenus (the meaning of his name) and the wisest of Dionysus’s retinue; indeed, the infant Dionysus was entrusted to his care.