This Intaglio is Set in an 18 Karat Gold Rin
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 bard 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.
In a contest for kingship of the island of Crete, Minos prayed to Poseidon (god of the sea) to send him a bull for sacrifice. The bull was so handsome the future king kept the creature for himself. In revenge, Poseidon caused Minos’ wife Pasiphae to fall in love with the bull, and their offspring was the half-man, half-bull Minotaur who was kept in a labyrinth at the palace. The beauty of the legendary beast is readily apparent on this handsome intaglio, with its rugged face, penetrating stare and beautifully engraved ear and horns. The large size of the stone gathers even more light and luster, making the proud profile indeed seem like an image from a mythical past.