Vintage intaglio golden mens ring

This is a vintage intaglio ring. Intaglio is a style of decoration created by engraving or carving below the surface so that the apparent elevations of the design are hollowed out and an impression from the design yields an image in relief. The background is not cut away, but is left in the plane of the highest areas of the design. It is the opposite of a cameo. Greek goldsmiths did intaglio work on metal, but such decoration is more often found on gemstones. On this purple stone the carvings show us the portrait of a man.

As is still normal today, tourists in the 19th Century that went to visit sites and remains of the ancient civilizations like Egypt, Greece, Rome etc. brought back home with them a lot of original artifacts (and sometimes not-so-original either). Like this, a lot of cameos and intaglios (among other objects) were brought back to Europe and given to local jewelers who turned these artifacts into jewelry. This ring is an example of the use of an old artifact into jewelry.

OBJECT GROUP: rings
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: most probably France
STYLE : vintage
PERIOD : 1930
MATERIAL : 18K yellow gold
STONES : 1 oval paste stone, we think the stone could date from approx.1830
WEIGHT : 21,30 gram (21,30 dwt)
ENGRAVING: a man's head
SIGNATURE: The stone carries a signature, we did not look for further information on the maker’s name.
HALLMARKS: no trace
CONDITION : good condition
SIZE :

Ring size UK : U
Ring size USA : 10 ¼
Ring size Continental : 20 & 63
It is our pleasure to resize the ring for you (if needed) at our expense. Only for extreme resizing we have to charge. For a table of comparing ring sizes click here


Please when referring to this piece, mention the following number: 98342-0848, or click here.


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Pre Victorian
rings
Seals & Intaglios