Advanced Search 
Rectangular gem with sea pantheress attacking a polypus
Greek
Hellenistic Period
2nd–1st century B.C.
Medium/Technique
Chalcedony
Dimensions
Length x width: 16 x 12 mm (5/8 x 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
Bartlett Collection—Museum purchase with funds from the Francis Bartlett Donation of 1912
Accession Number21.1214
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope, Jewelry, Ancient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsJewelry / Adornment – Gems
Catalogue Raisonné
Lewes House Gems, no. 103 (1920; 2002).
DescriptionSea pantheress attacking a polypus to left. She grasps the body with her jaw and two tentacles with her paws. A third tentacle encircles her neck. Irregular, hatched border. Brownish incrustations on the surface. Blue chalcedony flecked with white (burnt?) intaglio; sub-rectangular in shape with rounded corners.
ProvenanceBy 1897: with Edward Perry Warren (according to J. D. Beazley, The Lewes House Collection of Ancient Gems, no. 103: Bought from W. T. Ready in 1897. From Athens according to the sender.); 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)