Francesca Hickin
Head of Department
Lot 140
A Greek gold ring with a portrait bust of a Ptolemaic Queen
28 November 2019, 10:30 GMT
London, New Bond StreetSold for £81,312.50 inc. premium
Looking for a similar item?
Our Antiquities specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.
Find your local specialistAsk about this lot
Anna Marston
Associate Specialist
A Greek gold ring with a portrait bust of a Ptolemaic Queen
Hellenistic Period, circa 3rd Century B.C.
Of hollow gold, the hoop rounded on the exterior, flat on the interior, expanding at the shoulders to the flat oval bezel, engraved with a profile portrait of a bust of a woman facing left, wearing a chiton, her hair arranged in a chignon at the nape of her neck, with ringlet tresses falling onto her shoulders, wearing a crescentic diadem and large earrings with Eros pendant, depicted with Venus rings at her neck and a droplet necklace, a sceptre in the field, 25mm high, the bezel 22mm wide, ring size N
Hellenistic Period, circa 3rd Century B.C.
Of hollow gold, the hoop rounded on the exterior, flat on the interior, expanding at the shoulders to the flat oval bezel, engraved with a profile portrait of a bust of a woman facing left, wearing a chiton, her hair arranged in a chignon at the nape of her neck, with ringlet tresses falling onto her shoulders, wearing a crescentic diadem and large earrings with Eros pendant, depicted with Venus rings at her neck and a droplet necklace, a sceptre in the field, 25mm high, the bezel 22mm wide, ring size N
Footnotes
Provenance:
Henri de Clercq-Boisgelin (1901-1967) collection, Paris; possibly from the collection of Louis de Clercq (1882-1901).
with Scloß Ricklingen, Garbsen, Hannover.
Dr Grabert collection, Stuttgart, acquired from the above 21 June 1977.
The queen depicted here is likely Arsinoe III; cf. her coin-portrait type as reproduced in R.R.R. Smith, Hellenistic Royal Portraits, Oxford, 1988, p. 91-2, pl. 75.8. Smith notes that 'the queen has no divine, only royal attributes: stephane, diadem, and sceptre; and an air of reality is given by the prominent earrings and necklace. Her predecessors created new female royal ideals; she uses the same formal means but introduces a strong portrait element to express her own more stern, rather Victorian-looking, royal style' (p. 92).