Details

LOT 254567

Roman Red Variated Gemstone with Elephant

3RD CENTURY A.D.

5/8 in. (3.04 grams, 17 mm).

Scaraboid type with incuse design to the underside of an elephant with stars above; supplied with a museum-quality impression. [No Reserve]

Provenance

From the private collection of a European gentleman (1942-2024), formed since the 1970s.

Literature

Cf. coin of Caesar showing a similar elephant in Gołyźniak, P., Engraved Gems and Propaganda in the Roman Republic and under Augustus, Oxford, 2020, fig.283.

Footnotes

The Romans first encountered elephants in Pyrrhos' army, and the representation of elephants in Roman Art begins from this period. Victorious Emperors like Caesar and Vespasian celebrated elephants on their coins. Apart from the celebration of elephants as ‘war machines’, the image of elephants was linked to other aspects in the Roman Imperial Period. Before becoming emperor, Elagabalus was one of the priests of Helios-Sun worship in Emesa. He had elephant depictions on his coins during his reign. The elephants raise their heads to the sun when the sun rises. Thus, sun is represented on the gemstone together with the elephant.