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Description: | A Roman oval cornelian intaglio, probably dating 1st to the 2nd century AD. This intaglio is Henig Series A. The colour of the gemstone is an even orange. The intaglio is oval in plan and conforms to Henig's Flat Shape I, the upper (engraved) surface is longer than the lower (smooth) surface, so the sides are angled outwards. The cross-section is also wedge-shaped so one side is thicker (2.75mm) than the other (1.52mm). The upper side is carved with a standing female figure, Fortuna, facing right with has one arm held out in front holding the rudder, and in her other hand is a cornucopia. Fortuna is draped in a chiton and wears a calathus on her head. The opposite side is smooth. Dimensions: length: 11.07mm; width: 8.54mm; thickness: 2.75mm tapering to 1.52; weight: 0.33g.This intaglio is very similar to nos154-156 found in the Snettisham Hoard, dated AD154-5 and also to no. 314 in Henig's corpus which was found in the wooden duct leading from the sacred spring in Bath (1978). The goddess Fortuna, as personification of 'good fortune', was commonly depicted on ring-settings (Zienkiewicz 1987:14). Intaglios of this size and shape were set into finger rings of gold (strictly limited to members of the senatorial and equestrian classes) silver, iron or bronze (generally only for low quality moulded glass intaglios) although many drop out of their settings and are found loose (Henig 2008:2).Reference: Henig, M. 1978. A Corpus of Roman Engraved Gemstones from British Sites. BAR British Series 8.Henig, M. 2006. Engraved Gemstones: A Guide for the Small Finds Specialist. Datasheet 1 Roman Finds Group.Johns, C. 1997. The Snettisham Roman Jeweller's Hoard. British Museum Press, London.Zienkiewicz, J. D. 1987. Roman Gems from Caerleon. National Museum of Wales, Cardiff. | Publisher: | http://finds.org.uk | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/ | Go to resource |
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