ROMAN ONYX INTAGLIO BUSTS OF SERAPIS AND ISIS
Ca. 200-300 AD.
A beautiful onyx intaglio of an ovoid form with a flat verso and a bevelled edge. The front of the intaglio is delicately etched with a dual left-facing portrait of Serapis - the Graeco-Egyptian god of fertility and the afterlife - and Isis, the Egyptian god of life, healing, and magic. Serapis presents with a bushy beard and his signature kalathos atop his head, and Isis' feminine countenance is surmounted with a foliate headdress. Cf. Henig, M.; Classical Gems, The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
Size: L:14.4mm / W:11.3mm ; 1.2g
Provenance: From the private collection of Mr. R. Unger; previously with a London gallery; acquired in the 1980s on the UK art market.
Estimate: GBP 150 - 300