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Scaraboid gem with gorgon as winged centaur seizing a lion
Greek
Archaic Period
6th century B.C.
Medium/Technique
Rock crystal
Dimensions
Length: 27 mm (1 1/16 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase with funds donated by contribution
Accession Number01.7558
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsJewelry, Ancient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsJewelry / Adornment – Scarabs and scaraboids
DescriptionIntaglio. Convex surface. Pierced for stringing (horizontal). Motif oriented horizontally. Gorgon with snaky hair (Medusa?) as a winged centaur with human front legs, faces right and seizes a lion by its front legs. Her robe has a geometric border down the front and across her beck right leg. Her face is frontal. Lion is in profile at right. Hatched border and zig-zag line in exergue.
ProvenanceBy date unknown: Count Michel Tyszkiewicz Collection; 1898: auction of the M. Tyszkiewicz Collection, Hotel des Commissaires-Priseurs, 9 rue Drouot, Paris, June 8-10, lot 270; by date unknown: with Edward Perry Warren; purchased by MFA from Edward Perry Warren, 1901