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Ring and oval bezel with two bulls flanking a tree
Early Aegean, Helladic
Bronze Age, Late Helladic IIB–IIIA Period
about 1600–1300 B.C.
Medium/Technique
Rock crystal
Dimensions
Length (of bezel): 27 mm (1 1/16 in.)
Credit Line
Bartlett Collection—Museum purchase with funds from the Francis Bartlett Donation of 1912
Accession Number27.658
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsJewelry, Ancient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsJewelry / Adornment – Rings
Catalogue Raisonné
Lewes House Gems, no. 004 (1920; 2002, additional published references).
DescriptionRock crystal. Ring and convex, oval bezel engraved in intaglio. Two symmetrical, kneeling bulls facing a central tree turn their heads back (away from the tree); tails tucked under their hindquarters, and extending up above their backs. Behind each bull at the middle of each back, a tri-lobed plant on a bending stem. The central tree grows from a ball with splayed leaves and flower at the top into three fleshy leaves or petals above a splayed leaf sheath. Double ground line. Profile and muzzle of the bulls outlined. Round drill used for hooves and eyes. Three breaks in ring, at each attachment to bezel and one in the loop. The hoop might be modern.
ProvenanceBy dates unknown: from Mycenae and Evans collection; purchased in Paris by Edward Perry Warren (according to J. D. Beazley, The Lewes House Collection of Ancient Gems, no. 4); April 5, 1926: loaned to MFA by Edward Perry Warren (as 55.26); November 17, 1927: purchased by MFA from Edward Perry Warren for $ 161,000.00 (this figure is the total price for MFA 27.647-27.761)