A very fine hellenistich jacinth intaglio. Seated satyr.

3rd-2nd century B.C.

Intaglio : 15 x 19 mm Ring : 18 x 17 mm 3,30 g

Formerly in the Ionides Collection, this beautiful intaglio is characterized by convex face and flat back, with the figure of a bald and elderly satyr, seated beside a tree, his bagpipes hung up behind him. The stone is set as a ring in a modern metal mounting. Slight wear marks. Beautiful color of the stone, which becomes lighter where the intaglio is deeper. Sir John Boardman remarks " To judge from the confident and bold cutting of the scene on no. 16 this is another Hellenistic gem. Later treatment of this subject would have rendered the anatomy, features and tree in greater detail but with less sculptural force. The satyr has hung up his pipes and sits tired and somewhat fuddled in a pose long employed in Greek Art for similar, although generally heroic subjects - the bomused, mad Ajax, sulking Achilles, even the sad patient Penelope. Here the comparative triviality of the subject takes nothing from the dignity of the figure. We might recognize here Marsyas, defeated by Apollo who has hung his now useless pipes on the tree to which he will soon be bound, to be flayed for thi presumption. Such representations are seen on gems but it should be the reed pipes (auloi) that he played, and not the bagpipes, as here. However, the Marsyas scenes probably inspired this picture".

Parallels: J. Boardman, Engraved gems. The Ionides collection, pp. 21-22 n. 16; p. 93 fig; 16.

U.K. private collection. Formerly in the Ionides Collection, formed by Constantine Alexander Ionides (1833-1900) and his son, Alexander Constantine (1862-1931). Ex Sotheby's auction, Antiquities, London, december 1990, lot. 94.