Creative Commons License
Intaglio with Animals and an Ouroboros Set in a Pin
(Byzantium and Early Russia)
This intaglio depicts a bundle, possibly a representation of Amon, lying on a table or couch. On the right is an ox-headed serpent, and on the left is a monster formed from the head of a ram, the neck of a snake, and the body of a goat. Characters are above and below. On the very top is a oval enclosing five stars, and on the bottom is a four-legged animal, perhaps a jackal or a fox. The entire image is sorrounded by an ouroboros (a snake eating its own tail). The intaglio is mounted in gold as a stick pin. 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.
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: 1 1/16 x W: 3/4 x D: 3/16 in. (2.7 x 1.9 x 0.5 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.
42.870