Advanced Search 
Scaraboid gem with Apollo
Greek
Early Classical Period
480–450 B.C.
Medium/Technique
Carnelian
Dimensions
Length: 18 mm (11/16 in.)
Credit Line
Bartlett Collection—Museum purchase with funds from the Francis Bartlett Donation of 1912
Accession Number27.691
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsJewelry, Ancient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsJewelry / Adornment – Scarabs and scaraboids
Catalogue Raisonné
Lewes House Gems, no. 047 (1920; 2002, additional published references).
DescriptionIntaglio. Motif oriented vertically. Apollo stands with his right leg very slightly bent and his weight on left leg, holding a scepter in his left hand, and a branch of laurel in his right arm. He stands on a ground line. A hawk sits on his right forearm. His body is frontal, but his head is turned to the left, and he wears a cloak around his shoulders. He wears a fillet, and his hair is rendered by a series of striations terminating in pellets. There is a deer standing behind him, facing left. Line border.
ProvenanceAccording to J. D. Beazley, The Lewes House Collection of Ancient Gems, no. 47: by about 1890: Dr. Töpffer collection (acquired from Sparta according to Furtwängler but known many years previously); by 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 264 (said to have been found in Greece); by date unknown: with Edward Perry Warren; April 5, 1926: loaned to MFA by Edward Perry Warren (as 95.26); November 17, 1927: purchased by MFA from Edward Perry Warren for
$ 161,000.00 (this figure is the total price for MFA 27.647-27.761)
$ 161,000.00 (this figure is the total price for MFA 27.647-27.761)