A roman carnelian intaglio mounted in a modern gold ring. Erotic scene.

2nd century A.D.

stone: 1,4 x 1,8 mm ring diam: 20 mm 12,76 gr.

With a wide hoop rounded without and flatten within surmonted by a large rounded bezel set with a large carnelian intaglio. The scene depicts a man and a woman seated on a bed in front of each other in an act of masturbation. Groundline. The scene is strongly inspired by the depictions of sexual acts coined on the spintriae: the characteristic posture, the style of the figures and of the bed, the composition and the attitudes of the characters. Spintria (plural, spintriae), or more correctly erotic tessera, was the name of a particular category of Roman token, generally used for payments within a brothel. On it, usually, heterosexual erotic scenes are depicted. However, this intaglio is not a copy of spintria as mastrurbation scenes of this type do not seem to recur in the usual repertoire. Another source of inspiration are the frescoes of Pompeii and the terracotta oil lamps.The deep red color of the stone well emphasizes the strong erotic charge of the representation, and presents a small natural inclusion in a nodule exactly on the breast of the female figure, perhaps referable to an intimate auspicious and apotropaic meaning on the health of the owner of the gem. Mirror polishing inside the figures. Wear marks and a minor crack on the edge. Rare.

Parallels: C. Johns, Sex or Symbol. Erotic images of Greece and Rome; T. V. (1973) 'The Spintriae as a Historical Source', The Numismatic Chronicle 13, pp. 52 – 63; A. Campana, A. (2009) 'Le spintriae: tessere Romane con raffigurazione erotiche', La Donna Romana: Immagini E Vita Quotidiana Atti de Convegno. Astina, 7 Marzo 2009. pp. 43 – 96; Jacobelli, L. (2000) Spintriae e ritratti Giulio-Claudii. Bd. 1. Spintriae e scene diverse. L'impianto iconografico. Centro Culturale Numismatico Milanese, Milano; Simonetta, B & Riva R. (1981) Le tessere erotiche romane (spintriae). Quando ed a che scopo sono state coniate. Chiesa, Lugano; Duggan, E. (2016) "Stranger Games: The Life and Times of the spintriae". For a roman cameo with an erotic scene (couple on a bed intituled"spintria"), see U: Pannuti, La Collezione di Glittica, Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, p. 224 n. 189

U.K., private collection 80's.