LOT 0161

Roman Jasper Gemstone with Mithraic Tauroctony in Gold Ring

3RD CENTURY A.D.

1 in. (9.93 grams, 23.61 mm overall, 18.88 mm internal diameter (approximate size British R 1/2, USA 8 3/4, Europe 19.38, Japan 18)).

An oval intaglio depicting Mithras, a snake and a dog killing a bull, six stars on the field; set in a later gold ring; supplied with a museum-quality impression.

English private collection.
Reportedly acquired several decades ago in Covent Garden, London, still mounted in its original, heavily corroded iron ring; removed from this setting and remounted in a gold ring in recent years by the owner, a commercial airline pilot.

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13325-28218.

Cf. similar gemstone with Mithraic Tauroctony in Walters Art Gallery, inv.no. CIMRM 2367.

The interpretation of the Mithraic tauroctony has long been the subject of scholarly debate. The Belgian historian of religions and orientalist Franz Cumont (1868–1947) was the first to propose that the scene should be understood as an astral allegory rather than a purely mythological episode. More recently, David Ulansey developed this hypothesis by interpreting the tauroctony as a symbolic representation of the precession of the equinoxes. In his reading, Mithras—identified with the constellation Perseus—embodies the supreme cosmic power capable of moving the sphere of the fixed stars, while the slaying of the bull symbolises the transition from one cosmic age to another, expressing Mithras' dominion over the celestial order itself.