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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1986.543
Title
Finger Ring with the Head of Dionysos in Relief
Other Titles
Former Title: Finger Ring with Human Head in Relief
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/303855

Physical Descriptions

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

Chemical Composition: ICP-MS/AAA data from sample, Leaded Bronze:

Cu, 73.74; Sn, 19.92; Pb, 5.66; Zn, 0.06; Fe, 0.05; Ni, 0.04; Ag, 0.02; Sb, 0.09; As, 0.34; Bi, less than 0.025; Co, 0.076; Au, less than 0.01; Cd, less than 0.001

ICP-MS/AAA data from sample, Leaded Brass:

Cu, 72.43; Sn, 1.97; Pb, 6.52; Zn, 16.85; Fe, 1.6; Ni, 0.13; Ag, 0.43; Sb, 0.07; As, less than 0.10; Bi, less than 0.025; Co, less than 0.005; Au, less than 0.01; Cd, less than 0.001

J. Riederer

Comments: Curatorial has record of a note that said: “Ignore old sample,” but did not indicate which sample is old.

Chemical Composition: XRF data from Tracer
Alloy: Leaded Bronze
Alloying Elements: copper, tin, lead
Other Elements: iron
K. Eremin, January 2014

Technical Observations: The patina of 1986.543 is metallic gray with brown accretions and spots of green; the surface is worn.

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
1986.543
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 projecting oval bezel. On the bezel is a relief portrait bust of Dionysos shown in proper left profile view. The god is represented as a young man with long hair rolled at the back and bound by an ivy wreath (1). The figure could also represent a Ptolemaic king in the guise of Dionysos (2). Similar rings with generic representations deriving from Ptolemaic royal portraiture have been found in Egypt and as far afield as the Black Sea region, where they have been identified as imports related to the propagation of the cult of the Ptolemies (3).

NOTES:

1. This is a characteristic mode of representation for Dionysos in the Hellenistic period.

2. Compare D. Plantzos, Hellenistic Engraved Gems (Oxford, 1999) 114, no. 26, pl. 4. See also Christie’s: Ancient Jewelry (New York, Dec. 6, 2007) 60, lot 411.

3. See O. Neverov, “Les bagues hellénistiques de la collection du Musée de l’Ermitage,” in I Bronzi Antichi: Produzione e tecnologia. Atti del XV Congresso Internazionale sui Bronzi Antichi, Udine, maggio 2001, ed. A. Giumlia Mair (Montagnac, 2002) 157.


Seán Hemingway

Publication History

  • Jeffrey Spier, "A Group of Ptolemaic Engraved Garnets", The Journal of the Walters Art Gallery (1989), Vol. 47, 21-38, p. 34, fig. 48.

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