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A compelling example of Grand Tour collecting culture, this late 18th-century glass paste intaglio is a finely executed replica of the renowned 'Gemma Stosch' - an Etruscan engraved gem dating to c. 500–480 BCE. The intaglio is now mounted in a later 9K gold ring with Regency-style foliate shoulders, hallmarked for London, 1986, by maker EJ.The intaglio itself was made using glass paste, a method developed to mimic classical gems in both form and colour. It reproduces, with remarkable fidelity, the famed 'Gemma Stosch' carnelian scarab - today housed in the Antikensammlung Museum in Berlin - which depicts five warriors from the Seven Against Thebes legend. The original gem was discovered near Perugia before 1742 and entered the collection of Baron Philipp von Stosch in 1755 as a gift from Count Vicenzio Ansidei. It gained fame through its appearance on the frontispieces of Winckelmann’s Art History (1764) and Guarnacci’s Origini Italiche (1767), and through a 1756 engraving by the artist Schweickart, distributed widely among classical scholars and collectors.This 18th-century intaglio was likely produced for a gentleman on his Grand Tour, when the reproduction of ancient glyptics, particularly in glass, became both a souvenir and a statement of education and taste. The use of red paste to imitate carnelian, and the recessed engraving formed via moulding, follows the style of James and William Tassie and other noted paste gemmakers of the period.The intaglio is housed in a gold frame and later mounted onto a 9K gold ring hoop in the Regency revival style. Hallmarks indicate the mount was added in 1986 by maker EJ.Measurements:
- Intaglio: 22 × 18 mm
- Ring size: UK R / US 8.75
- Total weight: 5.76g
In excellent condition. A historically resonant piece linking antiquarian scholarship, Grand Tour collecting, and the enduring allure of engraved gems.
- Intaglio: 22 × 18 mm
- Ring size: UK R / US 8.75
- Total weight: 5.76g
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