Scarab with Worshiper and Winged Deity Set in a Gold Swivel Ring

Description This ring with a gold hoop of twisted wire, typically Egyptian but lacking the usual taper, has a swiveling scarab bezel rather crudely carved out of dark green stone. Carved into the back is a short-skirted figure with a disk over the head paying homage to the goddess Isis with outstretched wings. Isis was the most popular Egyptian goddess in the Phoenician culture, and this scarab may very well be Phoenician. The short-skirted figure may represent Osiris, and the crown he wears may be an adaptation of an upper Egyptian crown.

Exhibitions

• Jewelry - Ancient to Modern. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1979-1980.

Provenance Charles Newton-Robinson, London, by 1909 [mode of acquisition unknown]; Newton-Robinson Sale, Christie, Manson, and Woods, London, June 22, 1909, lot 2; Dikran Kelekian, New York and Paris, 1909, by purchase; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1909, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters, 1909