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Cameo with a satyr and a boy
Roman
Imperial Period
1st century A.D.
Medium/Technique
Sardonyx
Dimensions
Overall (bezel only): 0.6 x 2.3 x 2.3 cm (1/4 x 15/16 x 7/8 in.)
Credit Line
Bartlett Collection—Museum purchase with funds from the Francis Bartlett Donation of 1912
Accession Number21.1220
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsJewelry, Ancient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsJewelry / Adornment – Cameos
Catalogue Raisonné
Lewes House Gems, no. 130 (1920; 2002, additional published references).
DescriptionWhite on pale brown layered onyx. Cameo, in a modern gold swivel setting. A young satyr seated on a rock, in profile to the right, grasps the thigh and shoulder of a nude boy. The boy pushes against the elbow of the satyr in his right hand and tries to draw away. The rock on which the satyr is seated is covered with a lion skin; one leg of this skin also covers the satyr’s genitals. The top of the cameo is fragmentary; the boy’s head is missing.
ProvenanceBy date unknown: Louis Saulini Collection (according to J. D. Beazley, The Lewes House Collection of Ancient Gems, no. 130: Catalogue des objets antiques recueillis par M. le Chev. Louis Saulini, Rome 24-26 avril 1899, no. 97); by date unknown: with Edward Perry Warren; April 7, 1921: purchased by MFA from Edward Perry Warren for $ 30,000.00 (this figure is the total purchase price for MFA 21.1193-21.1221)