LOT 0153

Roman Glass Cameo Tondo with Baby Dionysos, Raised by Nymphs on Mount Nysa, in Gold Pendant Setting

LATE 1ST CENTURY B.C.-1ST CENTURY A.D. AND LATER

1 7/8 in. (21.36 grams, 48 mm).

Blue glass disc with white glass past overlay imitating onyx, showing the nurturing of baby Dionysos, raised by nymphs on Mount Nysa: the infant god standing on the lap of a nymph, another standing right, Silenus standing left and leaning in on the scene, a tree in the background; set into a later gold setting with applied wire scrolls and tendrils on the sides with an applied filigree band below, wide loop above fronted by an applied decorative plaque set with a garnet cabochon.

Private collection of a London gentleman, acquired between 1965-2020.

Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Ittai Gradel.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12680-235465.
This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

See Henig, M., Molesworth, H., The Complete Content Cameos, 2018, 157, no.152; see also The British Museum, London, museum no.1923,0401.1022, for a similar example.

Dr Ittai Gradel writes: 'Cameos with Dionysiac motifs were especially popular in the mid- to later first century BC, and the prolific workshop of the gem carver Sostratos specialized in such motifs (see I. Gradel, ‘A tale of two fragments: a Sostratos cameo reconstructed’, The Burlington Magazine 162 (March 2020), 181-87). The original, lost stone cameo, from which this glass version was cast, belongs in this period and ambience. The glass cast was presumably contemporary with the original cameo, possibly slightly later, but the glass is in any case clearly ancient (corrosion, iridescence).'