Classical Revival Intaglio of a Female Figure, 1700 CE - 1800 CE
Garnet-Gold
FJ.6404
This Intaglio is Set in an 18 Karat White Gold Ring The art of glyptics, or carving on colored precious stones, is probably one of the oldest known to humanity....
This Intaglio is Set in an 18 Karat White Gold Ring
The art of glyptics, or carving 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 BC in Mesopotamia and the Aegean Islands. They display 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 mineraIs 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 lovely young female on this intaglio is in a seated position looking intensely at what could be a mirror. She is nearly naked, with a light wrap falling gracefully behind her back and over her thighs. She may be at her vanity table dressing for an evening out, or perhaps meditating on a gift given to her by an admirer. In Greek mythology beautiful mortals, male and female, were often prone to the advances and the curses of the gods. This girl, however, seems to have no such fears, perfectly relaxed in her own world forever ‘rosy’ against the background of the beautiful garnet.
The art of glyptics, or carving 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 BC in Mesopotamia and the Aegean Islands. They display 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 mineraIs 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 lovely young female on this intaglio is in a seated position looking intensely at what could be a mirror. She is nearly naked, with a light wrap falling gracefully behind her back and over her thighs. She may be at her vanity table dressing for an evening out, or perhaps meditating on a gift given to her by an admirer. In Greek mythology beautiful mortals, male and female, were often prone to the advances and the curses of the gods. This girl, however, seems to have no such fears, perfectly relaxed in her own world forever ‘rosy’ against the background of the beautiful garnet.