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Ring with oval gem with armed Aphrodite
Signed by: Gelon
Greek
Hellenistic Period
early 3rd century B.C.
Findspot: Greece, Euboia, Eretria, Tomb of the Erotes
Medium/Technique
Gold and garnet
Dimensions
Length x width: 2.9 x 2.4 cm (1 1/8 x 15/16 in.)
Credit Line
Bartlett Collection—Museum purchase with funds from the Francis Bartlett Donation of 1912
Accession Number21.1213
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsJewelry, Ancient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsJewelry / Adornment – Rings
Catalogue Raisonné
Lewes House Gems, no. 102 (1920; 2002, additional published references).
DescriptionIntaglio. The thick hoop of the gold ring swells without demarcation into a high bezel, inset with a convex, broad, oval garnet. Aphrodite is shown in three-quarter back view, her mantle falling about her thighs as she bends forward to arm herself with the heavy shield and the spear of her lover Ares. Behind the figure, Greek inscription: "Gelon made it." Inside the ring, a faintly and irregularly scratched Greek inscription: "farewell."
Objects in the MFA from the Tomb of the Erotes include 97.290-97.345, 98.790-98.794, 98.798, 98.893, 99.438, and 21.1213.
Objects in the MFA from the Tomb of the Erotes include 97.290-97.345, 98.790-98.794, 98.798, 98.893, 99.438, and 21.1213.
ProvenanceBy 1898: Anastasios Rhousopoulos Collection (according to Ephemeris Archaiologike [1899], p. 228, note 1, where it is said to have come from a chamber tomb containing terracotta figurines of Erotes, a large terracotta figure, terracotta shields, and gold jewelry at Eretria); by 1900-1904: Arthur J. Evans Collection (according to Burlington Fine Arts Club, Exhibition of Ancient Greek Art [1904], p. 174); by 1914: with Edward Perry Warren (according to Warren's records: From Erotes tomb; loaned to MFA, 1914, as 472.14); April 7, 1921: purchased by MFA from Edward Perry Warren for $ 30,000.00 (this figure is the total purchase price for MFA 21.1193-21.1221)