Creative Commons License
Intaglio with an Ouroboros and Three Ring Signs
3rd-6th century
brown mottled carnelian
(Byzantium and Early Russia)
(Byzantium and Early Russia)
This oval intaglio depicts an ouroboros (a snake eating its own tail) enclosing two lines of text above and below three magical characters (in this case, ring-signs). The reverse is plain.
Inscription
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.
Henry Walters, New York [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Sadie Jones (Mrs. Henry Walters), New York, 1931, by inheritance; Mrs. Henry Walters Sale, Joseph Brummer, New York, 1942; Walters Art Museum, 1942, by purchase.
Exhibitions
| 1947 | Early Christian and Byzantine Art. Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore. |
Measurements
H: 7/8 x W: 1 1/4 x D: 3/16 in. (2.2 x 3.1 x 0.4 cm)
Credit Line
Museum purchase [formerly part of the Walters Collection], 1942
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
42.875