A roman hematite magical intaglio. The Three Graces-Hecate.

2nd - 3rd century A.D..

11,5 x 15 x 2 mm

The Three Moirai (Graces) standing in a group, the arms in movement. Groundline. Inscription around the edge (partially erased), (...)OBΛ TPIAOPEOBAPBAPCAI (...).Following Plato's cosmogony, the Goddess Ananke and the Three Fates were spinning the central spindle of the cosmos (Mastrocinque 2002a, p.174-187).Traces of iron and slight wear of marks. Rare.

Parallels :Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1894. Handbook No. 9: Collections of Engraved Gems. no. 56, p. 40, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.Bonner, Campbell. 1950. Studies in Magical Amulets, Chiefly Graeco-Egyptian, University of Michigan Studies, Humanistic Series, Vol. 49. no. 61, p. 263, pl. 3, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

U.K., private collection 70's, in the same family since then.

Estimate: GBP 300 - 500