Renaissance Gold Ring with Agate Cameo of the Presentation of Christ at Jerusalem

The head, carved from pale green chalcedony, polished to a smooth lustre and with a drilled aperture at the crown, the hair in tight curls around the nape and crown; the silver-gilt torso dressed in a draped toga carefully chased with deep folds and traces of gilding across the high points; mounted on a later patinated bronze column stand in the neoclassical manner. 208 grams total, 10.9 cm high including stand



Acquired on the European art market.

This small-scale portrait evokes the Roman tradition of imperial portraiture and the early modern fascination with the ancient world. From the seventeenth century onwards, artists and collectors revived classical subjects through hardstone and gilt-metal compositions, often intended for display in Kunstkammer or Grand Tour contexts. The combination of a reused ancient or earlier element with a later mount was a practice typical of the Renaissance and Baroque periods, reflecting the period’s reverence for antiquity and its imaginative recontextualisation of ancient forms.

Transparent hexagonal slice of polished rock crystal engraved with the Arma Christi, instruments of the passion, relating to the crucifixion of Christ. 32.3 grams, 84 mm



Acquired on the European art market.

With a wide, curving blade and an oval socket. 839 grams, 15.6 cm



Property of a Nottinghamshire, UK, gentleman.