Intaglio with a Satyr and a Trophy Set in a Ring

This intaglio depicts a nude satyr, in profile facing left, seated on a rock with his left hand to his chin and a thyrsos over his right shoulder. Before him is a trophy composed of a tree trunk with a helmet, shield, corselet, and sword, with a torch at its base.

Provenance

Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.

Gabriel Medina, Livorno (Leghorn), by 1742, [mode of acquisition unknown] [Medina no. I.19]; Sale, A Catalogue of the Genuine and Capital Collection of Antique Gems of Signor De Medina, Late of Leghorn, by Mr. Langford, Covent Garden, 10-12 February 1761, p. 4, lot 26; William Ponsonby, second Earl of Bessborough, Parkstead House, London, 1761, by purchase [Bessborough no. 1 M]; George Spencer, fourth Duke of Marlborough, Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, ca. 1765, by purchase [Marlborough no. 221]; George Spencer-Churchill, fifth Duke of Marlborough, Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, 1817, by bequest; George Spencer-Churchill, sixth Duke of Marlborough, Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, 1840, by bequest; John Spencer-Churchill, seventh Duke of Marlborough, Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, 1857, by bequest; Sale, The Marlborough Gems, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 28 June 1875, p. 33, lot 221; David Bromilow, Bitteswell Hall, Leicestershire, ca. 1875, by purchase; Julia Bromilow Jary, Bitteswell Hall, Leicestershire, 1898, by bequest; Sale, The Marlborough Gems Purchased by the Late David Bromilow, esq., Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 26 June 1899, p. 38, lot 221; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1899, by purchase [Dikran Kelekian as agent]; Sadie Jones (Mrs. Henry Walters), New York, 1931, by bequest; Joseph Brummer, Paris and New York, 1941, by purchase [Brummer inv. no. N5143a]; Walters Art Museum, 1942, by purchase.