¹¹⁄₁₆ in. (2 cm.) long

Giorgio Sangiorgi (1886-1965), Rome, acquired and brought to Switzerland, late 1930s; thence by continuous descent to the current owner.

M.-L. Vollenweider, Die Porträtgemmen der römischen Republik, 1974, pp. 138, 143, 174, 220, 258, pl. 92.

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Lot Essay

The fine portrait on this convex ringstone depicts a young man in profile with a full head of wavy locks. He has a large unarticulated eye and a prominant aquiline nose. Vollenweider considered it one of the most beautifully engraved portraits of the period. Sangiorgi compared the gem to a bronze portrait of Cato the Younger found at Volubilis, now in the Rabat Archaeological Museum, since the hair style and aquiline nose are similar (see pl. 2 in F. Poulsen, "Caton et le Jeune Prince," Acta Archaeologica XVIII).