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View: Obverse
Scarab with a bust of an African woman
Greek
Classical Period
425–400 B.C.
Medium/Technique
Carnelian
Dimensions
Length: 22 mm (7/8 in.)
Credit Line
Bartlett Collection—Museum purchase with funds from the Francis Bartlett Donation of 1912
Accession Number23.581
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsJewelry, Ancient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsJewelry / Adornment – Scarabs and scaraboids
Catalogue Raisonné
Lewes House Gems, no. 052 (1920; 2002, additional published references).
DescriptionIntalgio. Set in a modern gold hoop ring. Pierced for stringing (vertical). Motif oriented vertically. Head of an African woman, facing left. Tightly curled hair is tied up and mostly covered by a scarf wrapped around her head. Wearing a beaded necklace, rendered by a row of pellets, and lotus-bud earrings. Significant chips and breaks around edges, including one that has destroyed the eye and forehead. Beetle: Slightly ridged. Hatched border all around the thorax. Elytra separated by two lines curving away from thorax line.
ProvenanceBy date unknown: with Charles Newton-Robinson; purchased by Edward Perry Warren from Charles Newton-Robinson in 1901 (according to J. D. Beazley, The Lewes House Collection of Ancient Gems, no. 52); November 21, 1923: purchased by MFA from Edward Perry Warren for $ 32,948.27 (this figure is the total purchase price for MFA 23.576-23.594)