Details
1116 in. (1.7 cm.) long
Provenance
Giorgio Sangiorgi (1886-1965), Rome, acquired and brought to Switzerland, late 1930s; thence by continuous descent to the current owner.
Literature
J. Boardman and C. Wagner, Masterpieces in Miniature: Engraved Gems from Prehistory to the Present, London, 2018, p. 108, no. 97.
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Lot Essay

Enclosed within a hatched border stands Fufluns (the Etruscan equivalent of Bacchus) in a tunic and mantle, holding a beribboned thyrus and the handle of his kantharos. The material, shape and style connect this gem to a large group of elongated flat oval ringstones that were produced in late Etruscan workshops. The subject was inspired by the Hellenistic tradition. For a similar example at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, no. 92 in C. Gasparri, "Dionysos," in LIMC, vol. III).

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Masterpieces in Miniature: Ancient Engraved Gems formerly in the G. Sangiorgi Collection Part III
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