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Scaraboid gem with a horse
Possibly by: Dexamenos
Greek
Classical Period
450–425 B.C.
Medium/Technique
Chalcedony
Dimensions
Length: 20 mm (13/16 in.)
Credit Line
Bartlett Collection—Museum purchase with funds from the Francis Bartlett Donation of 1912
Accession Number27.698
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsJewelry, Ancient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsJewelry / Adornment – Scarabs and scaraboids
Catalogue Raisonné
Lewes House Gems, no. 067 (1920; 2002, additional published references).
DescriptionIntaglio. Flattened scaraboid. Motif oriented horizontally. Horse walking to the right, on a hatched ground line, and reins hanging loose. Right foreleg raised off the ground. Head comes very close to the edge of the field. Hatched border. Inscribed in Greek: "POTA" above the horse, and "NEA," below, between the horse's legs.
ProvenanceBy 1895: with Edward Perry Warren (according to J. D. Beazley, The Lewes House Collection of Ancient Gems, no. 67: Bought in 1895 from Hartwig. Formerly in the Postolakka collection at Athens, according to Imhoof-Blumer. Hartwig had it from Rhousopoulos, who said that it came from Messenia.); April 5, 1926: loaned to MFA by Edward Perry Warren (as 68.26); 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)