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A Roman gnostic intaglio. Harpocrates.

£ 700

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a roman gnostic intaglio. harpocrates.

A Roman gnostic intaglio. Harpocrates.

£ 700

Yellow-green jasper. 2.3 x 2.2 cm (0 ⁷/₈ x 0 ⁷/₈ inches)
Roman period, 2nd-3rd Century A.D.
 

On yellow and green jasper depicting Harpocrates seated in profile to the right on a lotus flower. On the reverse, glyphs and inscriptions. 

'Iam vero etiam Harpocratem, statuasque Aegyptiorum numinum, in digitis viri quoque portare incipiunt', affirms Pliny the Elder (H.N., XXXIII.41), and thereby attests to the custom of wearing 'on the finger' engraved amulets and gems of the image of this Egyptian divinity that is Harpocrates, the child Horus, son of Isis and Osiris.
Venerated by the Ptolemies in Egypt, and in the Mediterranean world as a solar and cosmic god— he is represented in the form of a naked child, sitting or standing on a lotus flower, with a shaved head (with childhood sidelock), and with his index finger to his mouth.
This iconography refers to the Hermopolitan myth describing the birth of the Sun in a lotus chalice emerging from primordial chaos, and referred to the fertile life power of the Nile or the 'Urwasser' Lotus. The lotus being for the Egyptians the agent of the daily miraculous birth of the sun. Thus the syncretic nature of these Gnostic gems offers a reinterpretatio of the god Harpocrates, making him a protective god of human, animal and cosmic fertility.
Old private collection of Mr. Levy, acquired in the 1980s at Hôtel Drouot
MASTROCINQUE, A., Sylloge Gemmarvm Gnosticarvm, Parte 1., Monografia 8.2.I, 2003

Each piece of jewellery is delivered with an authentification certificate signed by Bianca Massard and Gabriele Vangelli de Cresci experts, including additional documentation if existing and exhaustive description of the piece.
Pictures are part of the description and show state of conservation of the item. For additional pictures please contact us. (see contact section)

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Each piece of jewellery is delivered with an authentification certificate signed by Bianca Massard and Gabriele Vangelli de Cresci experts, including additional documentation if existing and exhaustive description of the piece.
Pictures are part of the description and show state of conservation of the item. For additional pictures please contact us. (see contact section)

Shipping and pick-up at the store options can be chosen during check out.

Our exclusive delivery partner is ThePackengers.
ThePackengers, specialized in the packaging and transport of works of art and collectibles, already collaborates with the largest auction houses as Drouot, but also with galleries, fairs, antique dealers, decorators and e-marketplaces.
See our Country List
Shipping Terms and Conditions.
Privacy Policy ThePackengers.

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