LOT 0097

Roman Gold Ring with Bust of a Lady

LATE 2ND CENTURY A.D.

3/4 in. (6.15 grams, 18.78 mm overall, 16.51 mm internal diameter (approximate size British K 1/2, USA 5 1/2, Europe 10.58, Japan 10)).

Composed of a broad, flat-section hoop and a rectangular bezel displaying a high-relief bust of a lady in profile right.

Acquired in the 1970s.
From a deceased lady’s estate, by descent.

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.202900.

Cf. Chadour, A.B., Rings. The Alice and Louis Koch Collection, volume I, Leeds, 1994, item 313; for similar Isis iconography on a ring see Schmidtová, J., Daňová, M., Šefčáková, A., 'New finds of roman rings from a rich grave in Cemetery III, Rusovce‑Gerulata,' in Studia Hercynia, XX/1, pp.83-99, pl.5/7.

In 2014, a grave of a woman was discovered in Gerulata cemetery III, containing an unusual number of rings. The buried woman, aged 40-49, had two rings on each hand, one of which was a signet ring with a gem depicting the Egyptian deities Serapis and Isis, whose hairstyle and profile are identical to the present ring. Although, the bust of Isis is opposed to Serapis in the rings, the cult of the goddess was widespread inside the provinces already in the 1st century A.D.