Roman Carnelian Gemstone with Vulcan

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

3/8 in. (0.25 grams, 10 mm).

Depicting a nude blacksmith seated on a stool before a forge, hammer in his right hand, holding an object he is hammering with the other hand.

Provenance

Private collection, North Germany.
with Gorny & Mosch, 14 December 2005, no.238.

Accompanied by a copy of an Art Loss Register certificate no.S00075379.

Literature

Cf. an intaglio with a kneeling Hephaestus (late 4th-1st century B.C.) in brown and white agate at the Walters Art Museum, accession no.42462, for the type.

Footnotes

Probably a Roman copy of a Hellenistic subject. Some Roman ring intaglios were dedicated to Vulcan (Greek Hephaestus), god of the blacksmiths, artisans, and carpenters. Usually, the god is represented standing or working in his forge, wearing a wide-brimmed hat and a one-shouldered tunic, identifying him as a craftsman. In his right hand, he holds a hammer over an anvil, and in his left a pair of long metalworking tongs. Sometimes he is naked, seated and working.

CONDITION

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LOT 0075