Roman Glass Intaglio Showing Two Gryphons Attacking a Deer

2ND-3RD CENTURY A.D.

1 1/8 in. (18.57 grams, 30.95 mm overall, 22.99 mm internal diameter (approximate size British N 1/2, USA 6 3/4, Europe 14.35, Japan 13)).

Ellipsoid glass cloison with incuse image of two gryphons attacking a deer; set in a later silver ring. [No Reserve]

Provenance

From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s.

Literature

See the mosaics of the Great Palace of Constantinople, 5th-6th century A.D. in Jobst, W., Behcet, E., Guriner, C., Istanbul, the Great Palace Mosaic, Istanbul, 1997, fig.23, for iconography.

Footnotes

The subject of griffins attacking a deer has a long history and remained popular during the Hellenistic and Roman period throughout the Mediterranean area and beyond. It may be a symbol of the inevitability of death.

CONDITION

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LOT 0600