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Directory: Estate Jewelry: Gold: Pre Victorian: Pre 1800: Item # 1486713

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Moylan-Smelkinson/The Spare Room
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P.O. Box 4684
Baltimore, Maryland 21212
tel. 410-435-3738

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Our C1790 ring is an 18th century glass intaglio of an ancient signed gem depicting the head of a laughing satyr, or faun (a young satyr). Such carvings were called Tassies (explained further down). "Gems" in this case refers not to precious stones, but to ancient classical Greek carvings, highly valued miniature works of art. Our glass intaglio is signed in Greek for Ammonioy, meaning "by Ammonios". It is not clear that the signature stood for any particular gem engraver; however there are seven gems in the Beazley Archive at the University of Oxford that are signed this way (John Beazley was an archaeologist who left his collection of classical gems to Oxford University). A list of engraver's names from famed German librarian R.E. Raspe's 1790 descriptive catalogue, in which he catalogued James Tassie's vast collection of gem castings, lists the name Ammonios, so it is clear that Raspe believed it to be a genuine signature. An 18th century example of a laughing satyr of sardonyx can be found in the Beverly collection of Gems at Alnwick Castle. A photo and description of are shown under images. Glyptic gem engraving is an ancient art form that began in Egypt and later adopted in Greece and Rome. The art of cameo and intaglio sculpting experienced a resurgence in the Middle Ages and Renaissance and again in the eighteenth century, due largely to the discoveries of Herculaneum and Pompeii in Italy. The gem engraver and merchant James Tassie discovered a technique of making high quality copies of ancient gems in glass. The glass copies were either left transparent or opaque or colored (ours is colored, as one can see). These "perfect copies" were catalogued by RE Raspe in his 1791 descriptive catalogue of gem intaglios and cameos. In the 18th and early 19th century it became popular for aristocrats to display their collections of cameo and intaglio gems in their homes as a way of conveying their knowledge of classicism, thus building their prestige. Many glass Tassies found their way to Europe through Rome by the collectors who eagerly bought them up as souvenirs on the Grand Tour. It is likely our laughing satyr was acquired in this way. The ring is glass on the intaglio side and carnelian on the non carved side, called a doublet. Set to the original 15K collector's mount, the ring is a US size 6 ½.