This seal is set in an 18 karat gold rin
The art of glyptics, or carving images on colored precious stones, is probably one of the oldest known to humanity. Intaglios, gems with an incised design, were made as early as the fourth and third millennia B.C. in Mesopotamia and the Aegean Islands. They exhibit a virtuosity of execution that suggests an old and stable tradition rooted in the earliest centuries. The tools required for carving gems were simple: a wheel with a belt-drive and a set of drills. Abrasives were necessary since the minerals used were too hard for a metal edge. A special difficulty of engraving intaglios, aside from their miniature size, was that the master had to work with a mirror-image in mind.
The elegance and style of the ancient intaglios attracted the interests of engravers and collectors of the 18th. Century. This revival of all things ancient appealed to the wealthy and noble classes who loved to wear jewelry, especially those with mythological scenes and images of deities or royalty. This lovely intaglio depicts a bust of an emperor, who may be the emperors Titus (A.D.79-81) or his brother Domitian (A.D.81-96). The portrait is quite similar to the coins of the reign of Domitian. Whoever this man may be, he is certainly very noble as befitting a great ruler; with the same elegance as the person who chooses to wear such a distinctive ring.