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Scaraboid gem with a lion attacking a bull
Greek
Late Archaic Period
about 500 B.C.
Medium/Technique
Chalcedony
Dimensions
Length: 22 mm (7/8 in.)
Credit Line
Henry Lillie Pierce Fund
Accession Number98.720
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsJewelry, Ancient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsJewelry / Adornment – Scarabs and scaraboids
DescriptionStone is opaque tan. Intaglio. Pierced for stringing (horizontal). Motif oriented horizontally. Lion attacks a bull by biting its haunches. Behind the bull, at left, a winged disc. Underneath the haunches of the lion, a small turtle. Hatched border.
ProvenanceBy 1897, Michal Tyszkiewicz (b. 1828 - d. 1897), Rome [see note 1]; June 8 - 10, 1898, posthumous Tyszkiewicz sale, Hotel Drouot, Paris, lot 265. 1898, Edward Perry Warren (b. 1860 - d. 1928), Rome and London; 1898, sold by Warren to the MFA for $69,618.13 [note 2]. (Accession Date: September 20, 1898)
Notes:
[1According to Warren's records: "This gem was brought in to Rhousopoulos when J. M. was with him. It was given to Count Tyszkiewicz in exchange for one we had given him before, which we wanted back. Said to come from Thebes."
[2]Total price for MFA accession nos. 98.641-98.940.
Notes:
[1According to Warren's records: "This gem was brought in to Rhousopoulos when J. M. was with him. It was given to Count Tyszkiewicz in exchange for one we had given him before, which we wanted back. Said to come from Thebes."
[2]Total price for MFA accession nos. 98.641-98.940.