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Scarab with Turms/Hermes
Italic, Etruscan
Hellenistic Period
late 4th century B.C.
Medium/Technique
Carnelian
Dimensions
Length: 14 mm (9/16 in.)
Credit Line
Henry Lillie Pierce Fund
Accession Number98.731
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsJewelry, Ancient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsJewelry / Adornment – Scarabs and scaraboids
DescriptionDeep, almost opaque, brownish red carnelian. Scarab with flat, oval base engraved in intaglio; pierced lengthwise. Turms/Hermes standing frontally with head in profile to right. He wears a spotted and hemmed long chlamys and holds a reversed caduceus across his torso. Pellet border. Back carved as a beetle with a hatched line around the thorax and a single line dividing the elytra. Plastic legs with spined front legs. Plinth with tongue pattern. Small chips missing around the beetle’s head and intaglio’s border. The beetle shows signs of wear on its back.
ProvenanceBy date unknown: Morrison Collection (according to Warren's records: Morrison sale, no. 47); by date unknown: with Edward Perry Warren; 1898: purchased by MFA from Edward Perry Warren for $ 69,618.13 (this figure is the total price for MFA 98.641-98.940)