Please complete the form to email this item.

Ring

Ring

  • Place of origin:

    Europe (west, made)

  • Date:

    ca. 1600 (made)
    1st century (intaglio)

  • Artist/Maker:

    Unknown (production)

  • Materials and Techniques:

    Gold enamelled in black, set with a sapphire intaglio of the Medusa

  • Credit Line:

    The Salting Bequest

  • Museum number:

    M.553-1910

  • Gallery location:

    Temporary Exhibition, room 38, case WN1, shelf CA3

  • Download image

Object Type
The shoulders and sides of the bezel (head) of this ring are decorated with scrolls on a black enamel ground. The very fine sapphire intaglio (the design engraved into the stone) is Graeco-Roman, dating from the 1st century AD.

People
The range, antiquity and splendour of the objects Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel (1585-1646) acquired put him on a par with great European collectors. As well as paintings and drawings of the greatest importance, he collected works of the classical period. These included cameos and intaglios. His principal agent was the tireless William Petty (possibly born in 1585, died 1639), who in 1638 purchased for Arundel the gem collection of the Flemish dealer Daniel Nys in Italy.

The Arundel Collection gems passed by descent to Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke of Marlborough (1706-1758), himself a great collector of engraved gems.The Marlborough Collection was later sold at Christie's auction house on 28 June 1875.

Subjects Depicted
The sapphire is engraved with the head of Medusa. In Greek mythology she was one of three sisters, the Gorgons, whose terrifying appearance turned those who saw them into stone. She was beheaded by the legendary hero Perseus.

Place of Origin

Europe (west, made)

Date

ca. 1600 (made)
1st century (intaglio)

Artist/maker

Unknown (production)

Materials and Techniques

Gold enamelled in black, set with a sapphire intaglio of the Medusa

Dimensions

Diameter: 3 cm estimated maximum, Height: 1.2 cm estimated, Width: 1 cm estimated

Object history note

Made in western Europe using a Graeco-Roman intaglio

Descriptive line

Ring with classical gemstone

Exhibition History

Treasures of the Royal Courts: Tudors, Stuarts and the Russian Tsars (Victoria and Albert Museum)
The Golden Age of the English Court: From Henry VIII to Charles I (Moscow Kremlin Museums 24 Oct 2012-27 Jan 2013)

Labels and date

British Galleries:
Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel (1585-1646), who owned this ring, was one of the first Englishmen to collect classical sculpture and gems. He travelled widely in Europe and was famous as an antiquarian and art connoisseur. This sapphire is carved with the head of Medusa, the mythological monster whose gaze turned men to stone. [27/03/2003]
Treasures of the Royal Courts: Tudors, Stuarts and the Russian Tsars label text:

Ring with Medusa intaglio
Intaglio 100 BC– AD 100; ring about 1600

The classical sapphire intaglio is engraved with the head of the gorgon Medusa. Set into a ring for the Gonzagas, dukes of Mantua in around 1600, it was
later acquired by Thomas Howard, 14th Earl of Arundel. He was a pre-eminent collector of antiquities, Renaissance drawings and paintings.

Europe
Gold, enamel, sapphire intaglio
Arundel and Marlborough Collections
Salting Bequest
V&A M.553-1910

Subjects depicted

Medusa

Categories

Metalwork; Jewellery

Collection code

MET

Download image
Qr_O78603
Ajax-loader