Roman Tyche Cameo Ring
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A Late Roman onyx cameo inscribed ΤΥΧΗ, ‘Fortune’, of the 3rd to 5th century AD, set in a 19th-century gold ring.Inscription cameos like this were popular across the Late Roman world. They carried short Greek words of greeting, love or good fortune, and were given and worn as tokens. Tyche was the goddess of fortune, so this little stone is, in effect, a wish for good luck that has lasted some sixteen centuries.The carver worked with the stone’s two natural layers: the letters stand in white relief, and the rest of the white layer was cut away to reveal the dark layer beneath. The letter that looks like a ‘V’ is the Greek upsilon, so the word reads ΤΥΧΗ.The plain gold mount was made in the 19th century, when collectors set ancient gems as rings to wear. Minimal and almost modern in feel, it makes a perfect little-finger ring.Details: Cameo Late Roman, 3rd–5th century AD; mount 19th century; two-layer onyx; 18K gold, unmarked; face 0.9 × 0.6 cm; 3.11g; UK H, US 3¾. For the type, see M. Henig, The Content Cameos (Oxford, 1990), nos. 27–56.Condition: Excellent. Evidence of resizing at the back of the band.
A Late Roman onyx cameo inscribed ΤΥΧΗ, ‘Fortune’, of the 3rd to 5th century AD, set in a 19th-century gold ring.
Inscription cameos like this were popular across the Late Roman world. They carried short Greek words of greeting, love or good fortune, and were given and worn as tokens. Tyche was the goddess of fortune, so this little stone is, in effect, a wish for good luck that has lasted some sixteen centuries.
The carver worked with the stone’s two natural layers: the letters stand in white relief, and the rest of the white layer was cut away to reveal the dark layer beneath. The letter that looks like a ‘V’ is the Greek upsilon, so the word reads ΤΥΧΗ.
The plain gold mount was made in the 19th century, when collectors set ancient gems as rings to wear. Minimal and almost modern in feel, it makes a perfect little-finger ring.
Details: Cameo Late Roman, 3rd–5th century AD; mount 19th century; two-layer onyx; 18K gold, unmarked; face 0.9 × 0.6 cm; 3.11g; UK H, US 3¾. For the type, see M. Henig, The Content Cameos (Oxford, 1990), nos. 27–56.
Condition: Excellent. Evidence of resizing at the back of the band.
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