28 - A ROMAN NICOLO INTAGLIO RING

A ROMAN NICOLO INTAGLIO RING CIRCA 100-200 AD Set with an oval nicolo (banded onyx) intaglio, finely carved with a tree in central position. Analysed as 94.10% gold, 4.70% silver, 1.16% copper Unmarked Size/dimensions: ring size E 1/2 (US 2 3/4) Gross weight: 8.85g Expected wear to the intaglio but an evocative symbol. The piece shows evidence of incidental wear and use commensurate with its age and materials, but otherwise is offered in good overall condition. Provenance Acquired by the present owner from an antiquities dealer Nicolo, from the Italian onicolo or “little onyx”, is a variety of layered onyx with a dark lower layer beneath a thin layer of pale bluish-white. Roman gem engravers learnt to exploit this structure, polishing the stone so that the pale layer formed a soft blue-grey surface, then cutting the design through it into the dark stone below. The result is a subtle, luminous image framed by a dark border, and nicolo became one of the most popular stones for Roman intaglios, particularly in the second and third centuries AD. For a very similar ring, engraved with a grape vine, see Anna Beatriz Chadour, Rings: The Alice and Louis Koch Collection, Leeds, 1994, p. 88.