Ancient Near East, Sasanian Empire, ca. 3rd to 6th century CE; Western Europe, Renaissance / Early Modern period, ca. 15th to 17th century CE. A beautiful Sasanian agate intaglio of a gazelle set into an ornate silver ring from the Renaissance period. The flat, circular face of the intaglio is hand-carved with the image of a seated gazelle in profile, body facing left and head raised and turned right. The animal displays a long neck, bent legs, curved horns, and a petite tail. Strands of wheat or grass rise to the left and a 6-pointed star is featured in the upper right. The light gray stone is set into a hexagonal bezel adorned on the sides with scrolling motifs and striated vertical ridges that travel vertically down each corner. Additional zoomorphic designs also embellish the shoulder of the tapering band. Size of intaglio: 0.8" Diameter (2 cm); of ring: 1" L x 1.3" W (2.5 cm x 3.3 cm); US ring size: 8; silver quality: 85.93%; weight: 25.1 grams

Provenance: private Ontario collection, Canada; ex-Dr. Istvan Zelnik private collection, Brussels, Belgium

All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.

A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.

We ship worldwide to most countries and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience.

#183458

A few miniscule fissures to periphery of silver bezel as well as some abrasions to intaglio and ring body. Otherwise, intact, excellent, and wearable with nice remaining detail and a few encrustations in areas of in intaglio.