Harvard Art Museums > 1960.637: Scaraboid Gem with Youth, Bow, and Arrow Gems Collections Search Exit Deep Zoom Mode Zoom Out Zoom In Reset Zoom Full Screen Add to Collection Order Image Copy Link Copy Citation Citation"Scaraboid Gem with Youth, Bow, and Arrow , 1960.637,” Harvard Art Museums collections online, Dec 22, 2024, https://hvrd.art/o/290489. Reuse via IIIF Toggle Deep Zoom Mode Download This object does not yet have a description. Identification and Creation Object Number 1960.637 Title Scaraboid Gem with Youth, Bow, and Arrow Classification Gems Work Type gem Date c. 480-460 BCE Places Find Spot: Ancient & Byzantine World, Asia, Cyprus Period Classical period, Early Culture Greek Persistent Link https://hvrd.art/o/290489 Physical Descriptions Medium Carnelian set in gold ring Technique Intaglio Dimensions Diam: 1.5 cm (9/16 in.) Provenance Recorded Ownership History W.L. Nashe, (before 1903) sold; through [Sotheby, London, July 1, 1903, lot 96]; to James Carnegie, Ninth Earl of Southesk, Scotland. David M. Robinson, Oxford, Mississippi, (after 1949 - 1960), bequeathed; to Harvard Art Museums. Reportedly from Polis tes Chrysochous (Marion/Arsinoe), Cyprus. Acquisition and Rights Credit Line Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of David M. Robinson Accession Year 1960 Object Number 1960.637 Division Asian and Mediterranean Art Contact am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu Permissions The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request. Descriptions Description Scarab carnelian (intaglio gem in the form of a scarab beetle) set into a modern gold ring. The gem design shows a nude, kneeling youth, framed by a hatched border. The youth holds an arrow with both hands, apparently testing its quality; a bow is slung over one of his wrists. Commentary Crouching, kneeling, sitting, and stooping figures are quite common for gems of this period and fill the field quite well. The motif of testing an arrow occurs similarly on other examples. Publication History Lady Helena Carnegie, Catalogue of the Collection of Antique Gems Formed by James Ninth Earl of Southesk K.T., Bernard Quaritch (London, 1908), no. A42 David M. Robinson, "Unpublished Greek Gold Jewelry and Gems", American Journal of Archaeology, Archaeological Institute of America (New York, 1953), vol. 57, no. 1, pp. 5-19, p. 17, fig. 48, pl. 24 Fogg Art Museum, The David Moore Robinson Bequest of Classical Art and Antiquities, A Special Exhibition, exh. cat., Harvard University (Cambridge, MA, 1961), p. 42, no. 381 John Boardman, Archaic Greek Gems: schools and artists in the sixth and early fifth centuries B.C, Thames & Hudson (London, 1968), no. 281 Exhibition History The David Moore Robinson Bequest of Classical Art and Antiquities: A Special Exhibition, Fogg Art Museum, 05/01/1961 - 09/20/1961 Echoes from Mount Olympus: The Minor Arts of Classical Antiquity, University Art Museum, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley 32Q: 2220 18th-19th Century, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/19/2015 - 05/05/2016 Verification Level This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
