Renaissance Gold Ring with Reused Ancient Roman Gemstone
16th-17th century A.D. and earlier. The ring with slender hoop, slightly expanding shoulders modelled as open lotus flowers supporting the rounded bezel, the flower motif repeated beneath the bezel; the bezel with raised rim and inset with a Roman 2nd century A.D. green jasper intaglio engraved with an ant motif. Cf. Chadour, A.B., Rings. The Alice and Louis Koch Collection, volume I, Leeds, 1994, item 657, for type; for the gemstone see a ring with gemstone depicting an ant, in the Yale University Art Gallery, Roman, A.D. 1-200, inventory no.2017.39.1; Mastrocinque, A., Les Intailles Magiques du département des Monnaies, Médailles et Antiques, Paris, 2014, nos. 371-372, especially 552, similar gemstone with ant in amethyst; see for further iconography Capello, A., Prodromus iconicus sculptilium gemmarum Basilidiani amulectici atque talismani generis, Venise, 1702, no.51; Middleton, J.H., The engraved gems of classical times, with a catalogue of the Gems in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, 1891, app. XIII and XIX. 4.32 grams, 22.07 mm overall, 18.35 mm internal diameter (approximate size British O, USA 7, Europe 14.98, Japan 14) (7/8 in.).

From the private collection of the late A.B., London, UK; acquired before 1989.Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato.This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.12009-213037.

The style and technique of the ring seem to be German or Central European and date to the late 16th or early 17th centuries. The iconography of the intaglio was directly linked with one of the attributes of the Roman goddess Ceres and consecrated to the cult of Juno Lanuvina (a symbol of fertility, industry and richness), patron of grain and fertility.

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