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Description: | Roman copper alloy finger ring of Henig Type I set with a blue glass intaglio. The ring has a robust plain oval bezel that is raised above the level of the hoop on plain shoulders. The shoulders are triangular in plan and section, widening evenly from the hoop to the bezel. The back of the hoop is entirely missing to old breaks but from the breaks it seems likely it was slightly flattened and oval in section. The bezel is recessed in the centre with a very thin unrecessed edge and entirely filled with a blue glass intaglio.The glass is a translucent blue with white trails swirled through it, giving it a similar appearence to banded chalcedonys such as agate. About half of the intaglio is broken with the surface missing. The other half is chipped making it hard to interpret the design which seems to include several discrete element, possible a branching foliage motif or animal. Due to the possiblity of detaching the damaged section, and the damage to the entire surface, a clear impression could not be made.The bezel is 12.9mm long by 10.9mm and the entire piece 18.1mm long by 10.8mm tall and weighs 3.92 grams.The ring appears to be of Henig type I, Guiraud Type 1b which is generally thought to be an early type dating to the 1st century (Henig 1978:46-7) however the use of a decorative intaglio and banded glass is most popular in the 2nd and particularly the 3rd century AD (Henig pers comm). It is a relatively common type with many parallels on the PAS database, e.g. LEIC-23CF11, WILT-6593F3 and DENO-D93F01.
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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