LOT 0102

Gold Necklace with Agate Pendant

1ST CENTURY B.C.-2ND CENTURY A.D.

19 in. (26.19 grams, 48 cm long).

A Graeco-Roman or Phoenician chain of loop-in-loop links and thick suspension ring, gold dome with bands of applied granules capping an egg-shaped banded agate drop.

Acquired in the late 1980s-early 1990s.
Important North West London collection.

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 search certificate no.11935-210477.

Cf. Marshall, F.H., Catalogue of the Jewellery, Greek, Etruscan and Roman, in the Department of Antiquities, British Museum, London, 1911, pls.LIX (no.2727), LX (2736), LXI (2738), for the same style of chain rings.

Agate was appreciated in the Greek and Roman world for its magical virtues. A recently found agate gemstone from Imperial-era Anapa, which differs from the other similar agate stones in its spherical shape and large size, was inscribed with a text referring to traditional Greek expulsion rituals against evil and diseases, ending with a list of human head parts similar to the one found in the Hippocratic medical handbook. The gemstone was probably worn not only as an amulet, but also as a miniature handbook with instructions for making amulets. According to Pliny the Elder (NH, XXXVII, 47) a certain type of agate was protected against spiders and scorpions.