intaglio

Please enable JavaScript in your web browser to get the best experience.

Object Type
Museum number: 1856,0425.11
Description: Intaglio; sard; centre part of an anchor(?) resting on a fish; upon transverse stands a dove; inscribed to right and left of anchor and at top; fragment broken from upper part, upon which there was probably a second dove.
Cultures/periods
Production date: 3rdC-4thC
Materials
Technique: engraved; intaglio
Dimensions: Length: 56 millimetres
$Inscriptions
Curator's comments: Text from Dalton 1915, Catalogue of Engraved Gems: Garrucci, Storia dell' arte cristiana, pl. 477, fig. 46; Smith and Cheetham,, Dict. of Christian Antiquities vol. i, p.713; See also C.I.G., iv (1856), no. 9089; C.W. King, Antique Gems and Rings, ii, 29. A fragment is broken from the upper part of the gem, upon which there was probably a second dove.
Bibliographic references: Dalton 1901 / Catalogue of Early Christian Antiquities and Objects from the Christian East in the Department of British and Medieval Antiquities and Ethnography of the British Museum (3); Dalton 1915 / Catalogue of the Engraved Gems of the Post-Classical Periods in the Department of British and Mediaeval Antiquities and Ethnography in the British Museum. (504); Spier 2007 / Late Antique and Early Christian Gems (447); Finney 2003 / Abbé James Hamilton: Antiquary, Patron of the Arts, Victorian Anglo-Catholic (20); Howells 2015 / A Catalogue of the Late Antique Gold Glass in the British Museum (p.20)
Location: Not on display
Subjects: anchor; bird; new testament; allegory/personification; fish
Associated names: Named in inscription & portrayed: Jesus Christ; Representation of: Holy Spirit (?)
Acquisition name
Previous owner
Acquisition date: 1856
Department: Britain, Europe and Prehistory
Registration number: 1856,0425.11

Free entry

Opening hours