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LOT 0514
Graeco-Persian Agate Scaraboid with Recumbent Zebu
LATE 4TH-3RD CENTURY B.C.
5/8 in. (1.83 grams, 15 mm).
Engraved to the underside with a reclining zebu facing right with short protruding horns and a pointed ear; smooth, curved top and a narrow longitudinal perforation.
Provenancewith Herbert A. Cahn, Basel, 1990s.
Accompanied by a copy of an Art Loss Register certificate no.S00075367.
This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
Cf. Boardman, J., Greek Gems and Finger Rings, Early Bronze Age to Late Classical, London, 1970 (2001), nos.985, for the type.
FootnotesThe body, head and joints are rendered in the “globolo” drilling technique, in which circular recesses of different sizes are carved into the stone, whilst fine cuts are used to depict the horns, ear and tail. In the Achaemenid period, ‘globolo’ style visible on some gemstones, mainly with animal motifs, developed in Syria-Phoenicia, but the gems did not carry specific Persian motifs, except perhaps this series with a zebu bull.
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