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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1986.542
Title
Finger Ring Engraved with the Portrait of a Woman
Other Titles
Former Title: Finger Ring with Human Head in Intaglio
Classification
Jewelry
Work Type
ring
Date
3rd century BCE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Africa, Egypt (Ancient)
Period
Hellenistic period
Culture
Greek
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/303653

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Copper alloy
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
2.2 x 1.8 x 2.3 cm (7/8 x 11/16 x 7/8 in.)
Technical Details

Technical Observations: 1986.542 is intact, although much of the surface detail of the intaglio design is softened from corrosion and wear.

All four rings have lost some detail from corrosion and wear, with 1986.541 showing considerable loss of detail. All are broken at the points where the front meets the ring. 1986.543 has no ring. 1986.541 has a modern lead repair, perhaps with the original ring, and 1953.83 also has a modern lead repair with what appears to be a section of a modern ring.

The rings appear to be cast with no clear evidence of cold work in the relief decoration. The relief on 1986.543 is slightly higher than the other two relief rings; 1986.542 is carved in intaglio.


Henry Lie (submitted 2001)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Jonathan H. Kagan
Accession Year
1986
Object Number
1986.542
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Published Catalogue Text: Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes at the Harvard Art Museums
The ring is in the form of a plain hoop, rounded on the exterior, with a flat bezel of oval shape. Deeply engraved in the bezel is a portrait bust of a woman wearing a diadem on her head. A similar portrait on a chalcedony gem in the Cabinet des Medailles, Paris, has been identified as Arsinoe III Philopator (1).

NOTES:

1. See D. Plantzos, Hellenistic Engraved Gems (Oxford, 1999) 114, no. 34, pl. 6.


Seán Hemingway

Subjects and Contexts

  • Ancient Bronzes

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