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Openwork ring

Roman
Imperial Period
3rd century AD

Medium/Technique Gold and semiprecious stone (sardonyx?)
Dimensions Height: 0.8 cm (5/16 in.)
Maximum Diameter: 2 cm (13/16 in.)
Credit Line Benjamin and Lucy Rowland Fund
Accession Number2001.135
NOT ON VIEW
ClassificationsJewelry / AdornmentRings

DescriptionA gold ring with openwork (or pierced work; opus interrasile) composed of a design of juxtaposed peltae and scroll work. At the front the scrollwork is organized in a square field with a central "chi." From this rises an "omega" and a "lambda" mounted on a kind of pedestal. At the back of the ring is a solid, quasi-square panel set with a two-layered (white and honey-colored) stone.
Provenance2000, sold by David Sharp, London, to Ariadne Galleries, New York [see note]; 2001, sold by Ariadne Galleries to the MFA. (Accession Date: March 21, 2001)

NOTE: Said to have been acquired by David Sharp in London about 1966.