Lot 219: A Roman or Earlier Agate Intaglio Engraved with...
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A Roman or Earlier Agate Intaglio Engraved with Caduceus, Heracles’s Club, Fishes, and Crab, 1st Century BCE – 2nd Century CE.
An agate intaglio of reddish-orange hue, oval in form and deeply engraved with a symbolic composition. At the centre rises Mercury’s caduceus — a staff entwined by serpents — flanked symmetrically by two fish, their bodies finely detailed with scales and fins. Beneath the fish sits a prominently rendered crab, its claws spread wide, and to either side emerge stylised forms of Heracles’s club, subtly integrated into the base.
Approximately 1.7 x 1.5cm
Provenance: Private collection from a distinguished British collector.
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