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Oval gem with Hermes standing by a column
Roman
Imperial Period
1st century A.D.
Medium/Technique
Plasma
Dimensions
Length: 11 mm (7/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Alexander Cochrane
Accession Number18.375
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsJewelry, Ancient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsJewelry / Adornment – Gems
DescriptionIntaglio. Convex front and back with short inward front bezel and very rounded inward back bezel. Mercury stands to left, with bent right knee. His head is in profile and his body is in three-quarter view. He wears a wide-brimmed hat (petasus) and holds his special wand (caduceus), a staff with two snakes twining around it, behind his back with his left hand; his right arm is outstretched and holds an object, perhaps a ram's head, over a short column. Mercury stands on a ground line.
ProvenanceBy date unknown: Alexander Cochrane Collection; gift of Alexander Cochrane to MFA, August 1, 1918