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Auction: 26052 - Jewellery & Objets de Vertu
Lot: 29

A ROMAN BANDED AGATE RING
CIRCA 300-400 AD
Set with a banded agate designed as an eye, white upon a black background.
Analysed as 98.61% gold, 1.39% silver
Unmarked
Size/dimensions: ring size I (US 4 1/2)
Gross weight: 10.64g

The piece shows evidence of deterioration, incidental wear and use commensurate with its age and materials, and is offered in good overall condition.


Provenance

Acquired by the present owner from an antiquities dealer


The evil eye was a widespread belief across the ancient world : the conviction that envy, expressed through a malicious glance, could bring misfortune or even death. The Romans called it invidia, and they guarded against it with amulets of every kind. Among the most effective were stones that seemed to look back at the viewer, turning the evil eye against itself. Banded agate was ideal for this purpose. Cut so that its natural layers form concentric rings, a single stone could produce a striking eye, pale against a dark ground, as in the present ring.

Set in gold, the present ring combined the protective power of the stone with the status of the metal, and it would have been worn as both ornament and amulet.


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Estimate
£5,000 to £6,000

Starting price
£4000