Harvard Art Museums > 1986.541: Finger Ring with the Head of a Woman in Relief Jewelry Collections Search Exit Deep Zoom Mode Zoom Out Zoom In Reset Zoom Full Screen Add to Collection Order Image Copy Link Copy Citation Citation"Finger Ring with the Head of a Woman in Relief , 1986.541,” Harvard Art Museums collections online, Apr 19, 2024, https://hvrd.art/o/303708. Reuse via IIIF Toggle Deep Zoom Mode Download This object does not yet have a description. Identification and Creation Object Number 1986.541 Title Finger Ring with the Head of a Woman in Relief Classification Jewelry Work Type ring Date 3rd century BCE Places Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Europe, Northern Greece Period Hellenistic period Culture Greek Persistent Link https://hvrd.art/o/303708 Physical Descriptions Medium Copper alloy Technique Cast, lost-wax process Dimensions 2.3 x 1.7 x 2.2 cm (7/8 x 11/16 x 7/8 in.) Technical Details Technical Observations: The patina of 1986.541 is black with brown accretions, and the surface is very worn. All four rings have lost some detail from corrosion and wear, with 1986.541 showing considerable loss of detail. All are broken at the points where the front meets the ring. 1986.543 has no ring. 1986.541 has a modern lead repair, perhaps with the original ring, and 1953.83 also has a modern lead repair with what appears to be a section of a modern ring. The rings appear to be cast with no clear evidence of cold work in the relief decoration. The relief on 1986.543 is slightly higher than the other two relief rings; 1986.542 is carved in intaglio. Henry Lie (submitted 2001) Acquisition and Rights Credit Line Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Jonathan H. Kagan Accession Year 1986 Object Number 1986.541 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 Published Catalogue Text: Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes at the Harvard Art Museums The ring is in the form of a plain hoop, rounded on the exterior, with projecting oval bezel. On the bezel is a relief portrait bust of a woman shown in proper left profile view. She has a melon coiffure and the upper part of her garment is rendered. Given the ring’s worn state and mediocre execution, the identity of the figure is not secure but it belongs to the same group of rings as 1953.83, which may represent a Ptolemaic queen such as Arsinoe II, wife of Ptolemy II, Philadelphus (r. 285-246 BCE) or Berenike II, wife of Ptolemy III, Euergetes (r. 246-222 BCE) may be represented (1). Alternatively, the woman may be a more generic representation deriving from Ptolemaic royal portraiture. Similar rings have been found in Egypt and as far afield as the Black Sea region, where they have been identified as imports related to the propagation of the cult of the Ptolemies (2). NOTES: 1. See D. Plantzos, Hellenistic Engraved Gems (Oxford, 1999) 48. 2. See O. Neverov, “Les bagues hellénistiques de la collection du Musée de l’Ermitage,” in I Bronzi Antichi: Produzione e tecnologia. Atti del XV Congresso Internazionale sui Bronzi Antichi, Udine, maggio 2001, ed. A. Giumlia Mair (Montagnac, 2002) 157. Seán Hemingway Subjects and Contexts Ancient Bronzes 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
