This genuine antique Classical Revival bloodstone seal has been mounted in a modern 18 karat 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 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 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.
Intaglio engravers of the eighteenth century took as keen an interest in antiquities as did their wealthy patrons. A few of these artists went to Rome to study coins and statuary, making extensive drawings to take back for future use. The portrait of this handsome woman was probably made from a Roman coin. It bears a close resemblance to the empress Julia Domna, (wife of emperor Septimius Severus A.D.193-211). She wears a laurel wreath with leaves hanging down to her shoulder. Her hair is beautifully coifed and formed into a bun at the back. Her profile shows her proud and regal as an empress should be, but also very congenial as someone we would like to know.