Scaraboid gem with a head of a bearded man
Greek
Classical Period
450–430 B.C.
Dexamenos
Catalogue Raisonné
Lewes House Gems, no. 050 (1920; 2002, additional published references).
Dimensions
Length: 2.1 cm (13/16 in.); width: 1.7 cm (11/16 in.); thickness: 0.6 cm (1/4 in.)
Accession Number
23.580
Medium or Technique
Jasper
On View
Anne and Blake Ireland Gallery (Gallery 210A)
Collections
Classifications
Yellow jasper mottled with red. Intaglio. Set in a modern gold bezel. Pierced for stringing (vertical). Motif oriented vertically. Profile head of a bearded man, facing left. Inscribed in Greek across the top in two registers: ‘Dexamenos Epoie’ (Dexamenos made [it]).
Signed
add Greek
Provenance
According to J. D. Beazley, The Lewes House Collection of Ancient Gems, no. 50: said to have been found in a tomb at Kara in Attica about 1860. It passed into the hands of Admiral Soteriades, and was later in the possession of Rhousopoulos; then in the Evans collection.); by date unknown: with Edward Perry Warren; November 21, 1923: purchased by MFA from Edward Perry Warren for $ 32,948.27 (this figure is the total purchase price for MFA 23.576-23.594)
Credit Line
Francis Bartlett Donation of 1912