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A modern gold ring set with a Roman carnelian intaglio. Sow.

£ 1950

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A modern gold ring set with a Roman carnelian intaglio. Sow.

£ 1950

Intaglio: 1.2 x 1.6 cm (0 ¹/₂ x 0 ⁵/₈ inches)
Mounting: Gold (18k - 22k on top)
UK size N1/2 ; total weight 6,85 gr
Roman, 2nd century AD on a later mounting.

A Roman intaglio finely engraved on carnelian, depicting a sow facing left, in the act of nursing her piglets. The composition, restrained and confident, captures the recumbent posture of the mother and the cluster of suckling young in a few sure cuts of the burin — characteristic of the engraver's hand in the High Imperial period.

The motif of the sow and her piglets carries one of the most charged iconographic meanings of Roman glyptic. It refers directly to the prodigy of Lavinium, recounted by Virgil in Book VIII of the Aeneid : upon landing in Latium, Aeneas discovered beneath a holm-oak a white sow suckling thirty piglets — a divine portent announcing the foundation of Alba Longa thirty years later, and, three centuries on, the birth of Rome itself. Engraved on coinage, votive altars and personal seals from the Late Republic onwards, the image accompanied for Romans the living memory of their origins. Worn as an intaglio seal, it conferred upon its bearer a discreet but unmistakable civic identity, anchoring his daily acts of authentication within the foundational mythology of the City.

The intaglio is set in a later gold mount of restrained design, with a polished oval bezel and tapered shoulders, allowing the engraved stone to remain the focal point of the composition.

POSSIBLE RESIZING : YES

READ SIZE GUIDE

Each piece of jewellery is delivered with an authentification certificate signed by Bianca Massard and Gabriele Vangelli de Cresci experts, including additional documentation if existing and exhaustive description of the piece.
Pictures are part of the description and show state of conservation of the item. For additional pictures please contact us. (see contact section)

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Our exclusive delivery partner is ThePackengers.
ThePackengers, specialized in the packaging and transport of works of art and collectibles, already collaborates with the largest auction houses as Drouot, but also with galleries, fairs, antique dealers, decorators and e-marketplaces.
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Each piece of jewellery is delivered with an authentification certificate signed by Bianca Massard and Gabriele Vangelli de Cresci experts, including additional documentation if existing and exhaustive description of the piece.
Pictures are part of the description and show state of conservation of the item. For additional pictures please contact us. (see contact section)

Shipping and pick-up at the store options can be chosen during check out.

Our exclusive delivery partner is ThePackengers.
ThePackengers, specialized in the packaging and transport of works of art and collectibles, already collaborates with the largest auction houses as Drouot, but also with galleries, fairs, antique dealers, decorators and e-marketplaces.
See our Country List
Shipping Terms and Conditions.
Privacy Policy ThePackengers.

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