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Oval gem with bust of an Eastern ruler
Greek
Hellenistic Period
2nd–1st century B.C.
Medium/Technique
Garnet
Dimensions
Length: 27 mm (1 1/16 in.)
Credit Line
Bartlett Collection—Museum purchase with funds from the Francis Bartlett Donation of 1912
Accession Number27.710
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsJewelry, Ancient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsJewelry / Adornment – Gems
Catalogue Raisonné
Lewes House Gems, no. 097 (1920; 2002, additional published references).
DescriptionIntaglio. Convex back. Head of a man of advanced age, facing left, with short, curly hair and a full beard. With parted lips and eyes wide open beneath a furrowed brow, the man appears animated, if somewhat anxious. He wears a cloak (chlamys) tied in a bow around his neck and a conical cap typically associated with Phrygia. The top of the hat is obscured by a chip in the stone.
ProvenanceBy 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 289 (said to have been found at Suleimanieh in Turkish Kurdistan); by date unknown: with Edward Perry Warren; April 5, 1926: loaned to MFA by Edward Perry Warren (as 51.26); 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)