Harvard Art Museums > 1960.636: Scaraboid Stamp Seal: Heron with Leg Raised Seals Collections Search Exit Deep Zoom Mode Zoom Out Zoom In Reset Zoom Full Screen Add to Collection Order Image Copy Link Copy Citation Citation"Scaraboid Stamp Seal: Heron with Leg Raised , 1960.636,” Harvard Art Museums collections online, Apr 19, 2024, https://hvrd.art/o/290509. Reuse via IIIF Toggle Deep Zoom Mode Download This object does not yet have a description. Identification and Creation Object Number 1960.636 Title Scaraboid Stamp Seal: Heron with Leg Raised Classification Seals Work Type seal Date c. 450 BCE Period Classical period, High Culture Achaemenid Persistent Link https://hvrd.art/o/290509 Physical Descriptions Medium Mottled red jasper in a silver ring Technique Intaglio Dimensions Diam: 2 cm (13/16 in.) Provenance Recorded Ownership History Tyszkievicz Collection. David M. Robinson, bequest; to the Fogg Art Museum,1960. Acquisition and Rights Credit Line Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of David M. Robinson Accession Year 1960 Object Number 1960.636 Division Asian and Mediterranean Art Contact am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu Permissions The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request. Descriptions Description This red jasper scaraboid stamp seal features an image of a heron standing in profile. The heron stands on one leg and raises the other in front of its chest. Its wing covers most of its body, and its neck forms an S-curve. The face of the seal is hampered by several large cracks. A number of stamp seals feature images of herons (1). Two exquisite examples found in southern Russia are signed by Dexamenos, and several other seals, including this one, are attributed to his workshop (2). However, the closest match to the composition of this seal is provided by a seal impression on a clay bulla found in the Persepolis Treasury (3). Thus the likelihood is that the seal in the Sackler Museum collection was used somewhere in the Persian Empire during the fifth century BCE, if not actually made there. NOTES 1. J. D. Beazley, The Lewes House Collection of Ancient Gems (Oxford, 1920) 59-61. 2. J. Boardman, Greek Gems and Finger Rings: Early Bronze Age to Late Classical (London, 1970) 194-9, nos. 468-9; D. M. Robinson, “Unpublished Greek Gold Jewelry and Gems,” American Journal of Archaeology 57 (1953) 19. 3. E. F. Schmidt, Persepolis II: The Contents of the Treasury and Other Discoveries (Chicago, 1957) pl. 14 (seal no. 67). 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. B5 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. 19 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. 380. John Boardman, Greek Gems and Finger Rings: Early Bronze Age to Late Classical, Thames and Hudson, Ltd. (London, 1970), pl. 555; p. 411, no. 193 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 Verification Level This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator; it may be inaccurate or 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
