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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1960.637
Title
Scaraboid Gem with Youth, Bow, and Arrow
Classification
Gems
Work Type
gem
Date
c. 480-460 BCE
Places
Find Spot: Ancient & Byzantine World, Asia, Cyprus
Period
Classical period, Early
Culture
Greek
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/290489

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Carnelian set in gold ring
Technique
Intaglio
Dimensions
Diam: 1.5 cm (9/16 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
W.L. Nashe, (before 1903) sold; through [Sotheby, London, July 1, 1903, lot 96]; to James Carnegie, Ninth Earl of Southesk, Scotland. David M. Robinson, Oxford, Mississippi, (after 1949 - 1960), bequeathed; to Harvard Art Museums.


Reportedly from Polis tes Chrysochous (Marion/Arsinoe), Cyprus.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of David M. Robinson
Accession Year
1960
Object Number
1960.637
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Description
Scarab carnelian (intaglio gem in the form of a scarab beetle) set into a modern gold ring. The gem design shows a nude, kneeling youth, framed by a hatched border. The youth holds an arrow with both hands, apparently testing its quality; a bow is slung over one of his wrists.
Commentary
Crouching, kneeling, sitting, and stooping figures are quite common for gems of this period and fill the field quite well. The motif of testing an arrow occurs similarly on other examples.

Publication History

  • Lady Helena Carnegie, Catalogue of the Collection of Antique Gems Formed by James Ninth Earl of Southesk K.T., Bernard Quaritch (London, 1908), no. A42
  • David M. Robinson, "Unpublished Greek Gold Jewelry and Gems", American Journal of Archaeology, Archaeological Institute of America (New York, 1953), vol. 57, no. 1, pp. 5-19, p. 17, fig. 48, pl. 24
  • Fogg Art Museum, The David Moore Robinson Bequest of Classical Art and Antiquities, A Special Exhibition, exh. cat., Harvard University (Cambridge, MA, 1961), p. 42, no. 381.
  • John Boardman, Archaic Greek Gems: schools and artists in the sixth and early fifth centuries B.C, Thames & Hudson (London, 1968), no. 281

Exhibition History

  • The David Moore Robinson Bequest of Classical Art and Antiquities: A Special Exhibition, Fogg Art Museum, 05/01/1961 - 09/20/1961
  • Echoes from Mount Olympus: The Minor Arts of Classical Antiquity, University Art Museum, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley
  • 32Q: 2220 18th-19th Century, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/19/2015 - 05/05/2016

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu