Ring with Cameo of Head of Apollo Wearing a Laurel Wreath

The flatness of the carving is meant to suggest ancient Roman workmanship, but Roman cameos are not this flat. This is most probably the work of a Renaissance carver creating an "ancient" carved gem, for which there was much demand. This ring can be traced back to the 1600s and was in famous collections of ancient gems, including that of the Fourth Duke of Marlborough (1739–1813) at Blenheim Palace.

Provenance

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

Gabriel Medina, Livorno (Leghorn), by 1742, [mode of acquisition unknown] [Medina no. C.11]; 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. 6, lot 16; William Ponsonby, second Earl of Bessborough, Parkstead House, London, 1761, by purchase [Bessborough no. 16 M]; George Spencer, fourth Duke of Marlborough, Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, ca. 1765, by purchase [Marlborough no. 63]; 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. 10, lot 63; 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. 12, lot 63; 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.