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Description: | Stone or glass, gold and copper alloySeal matrix. A sub-rectangular purple coloured stone backed by a possibly organic material which is coloured green by copper corrosion, and retained within a setting of red tinted gold from which six tiny lugs project to grip the stone; these lugs occur on two adjacent sides only. The setting is corrugated with three gutters which run all around it. It bears a perforation of diameter 2mm centrally on one of its shorter sides, where its side is divided. A knob of green corrosion occurs on the opposite short side, though the metal setting is here undivided. The reverse of the setting is formed by a separate plate soldered to the sides with an irregular central oval aperturethrough which green-stained material appears.The gem is inscribed with what appears on the seal matrix - though appearing less convincingly on its imprint - as a skeletal or emaciated figure standing, with an anchor left. The anchor identifies this figure as the Genius of Death, as appears on Roman signet rings of the 2nd or 3rd centuries AD (Oman 1930, Victoria and Albert Museum Catalogue of Rings 1930, reprinted 1993, plate 5, nos 118, 126). The rectangular form would, however, be unusual for a classical intaglio gem. The depiction of Death in skeletal guise was a convention especially favoured in the later 17th and early 18th centuries, and would not be inappropriate for an object such as a mourning ring. The perforation and opposed patch of corrosion presumably relate to the suspension of the object as a fob seal, which would tend to suggest a more recent date, as does provision for clenching the stone. Suggested date: Post-Medieval to Modern, 1750-1850.Length: 15.73mm, Width: 11.8mm, Thickness: 4.3mm, Weight: 2.34gms.
Original Image | Publisher: | http://finds.org.uk | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | http://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/r... | Go to resource |
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