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Intaglio Jewelry :
Classical Revival Seal Rings : Gold Ring with Classical Revival Carnelian Intaglio of a Nest
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Gold Ring with Classical Revival Carnelian Intaglio of a Nest - FJ.6971
Origin: Mediterranean
Circa: 18
th
Century AD
Collection: Jewelry
Medium: Carnelian and Gold
$4,600.00
Location: United States
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| Description |
The art of glyptics, or carving on colored
precious stones, is probably one of the oldest
known to humanity. Intaglios, gems with an
incised design, were made as early as the fourth
and third millennia B.C. in Mesopotamia and the
Aegean Islands. The exhibit a virtuosity of
execution that suggests an old and stable
tradition rooted in the earliest centuries. The
tools required for carving gems were simple: a
wheel with a belt-drive and a set of drills.
Abrasives were necessary since the minerals
used were too hard for a metal edge. A special
difficulty of engraving intaglios, aside from their
miniature size, was that the master had to work
with a mirror-image in mind.
The Classical Revival was a phenomenon that
swept through Europe in the 18th and 19th
Centuries. A new appreciation for antiquity and
ancient art forms was fostered by discoveries in
the nascent scientific field of archaeology.
Perhaps the Classical Revival also reveals a latent
longing towards the Arcadian lifestyles of
yesterday abandoned as Europe became rapidly
industrialized and increasingly urbanized. A
pastoral allegory has been engraved onto the
polished surface of the carnelian gemstone. A
mother bird stands upon the edge of her nest,
hunched over as she prepares to feed her three
young offspring who all anxiously gaze up at her
with beckoning beaks. A bright star and crescent
moon illuminate the sky. Perhaps this scene is
symbolic of the nourishing forces of art and
antiquity. This stunning ring invokes the
imperial majesty of the Roman Empire while
simultaneously reviving a lost art and all its
beauty. Alas, the beauty of a ring such as this is
as timeless as the Classics it was inspired by.
- (FJ.6971)
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