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LOT 0170
Roman Carnelian Gemstone with Stork Emerging from a Seashell in Gold Ring
1ST CENTURY B.C.
1 in. (4.25 grams, 24.31 mm overall, 19.30 mm internal diameter (approximate size British T, USA 9 1/2, Europe 21.26, Japan 20)).
The oval intaglio engraved with a whimsical image of a stork emerging from the mouth of a large seashell, its neck arched forward to seize a small mouse by the tail; set in a finely made 19th-century ring with openwork shoulders; supplied with a museum-quality impression.
ProvenanceAcquired 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.13365-257944.
Cf. a gemstone with a stork in Gołyźniak, P., Engraved Gems and Propaganda in the Roman Republic and under Augustus, Oxford, 2020, fig.466.
FootnotesThe stork, a bird symbolic in antiquity of vigilance, filial piety, and longevity, here appears in an imaginative fusion with a marine shell—an element often associated with Venus and the sea. The capture of the mouse adds an element of humour and narrative intrigue, perhaps evoking themes of cunning, the triumph of wit, or the unexpected in nature. Such unusual compositions are occasionally found in Roman glyptics of the late Republican period, appealing both for their novelty and symbolic richness.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0170
Roman Carnelian Gemstone with Stork Emerging from a Seashell in Gold Ring
Estimate £3,000 - 4,000€3,480 - 4,640 (for guidance only)$4,050 - 5,400 (for guidance only)
Opening Bid
£1,500 (EUR 1,740; USD 2,025) +BP*
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Roman Marbled Turquoise Glass Bottle
1st-3rd century A.D.Estimate: £400 - 600 (‡+bp*)
Bids: 1 | Current Bid: £360
Comprising an iridescent piriform body, tapering tubular neck with pinched and everted rolled rim. 9.44 grams, 84 mm
Acquired on the European art market in 2001.
Indented toilet bottles with long necks are rather common. In Western provinces of the Roman Empire, they occur most frequently in and around the Rhineland. In the Eastern part of the Empire, find places include Crete, Cyprus, Anatolia, Syria and Egypt. -
Roman Terracotta Oil Lamp with Gladiators
Circa 2nd century A.D.Estimate: £80 - 100 (+bp*)
Bids: 5 | Current Bid: £85
The discus with two opposing gladiators, one holding a round shield, loop handle to the rear. 47 grams, 98 mm
From the collection of a Cambridge, UK, gentleman, by direct descent from his father, who acquired the items in London in circa 1960. -
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Roman Sidonian Mould Blown Glass Juglet
3rd-4th century A.D.Estimate: £2,000 - 3,000 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £1,000
With a broad mouth, applied D-section handle and flattened foot, integral bands of vertical corrugation and S-scrolls to the equator. 22.9 grams, 83 mm
Acquired on the UK art market, 1990s. Private collection, New York, USA. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13363-255450.
There are several published mould-blown flasks decorated with a tendril scroll around the body, flanked by tongues and petals, a decoration that appears in at least three different variants. They have either one or two handles.
