Greek Metalwork: Bronze Ring with Bezel
Inv. No.: 87.245
Provenance: Greece
Date: c. 5th century BC
Height: 23mm
Width: 25mm
Cottier-Angeli Gift.
A bronze ring with an oval bezel and a hoop shaped like a horseshoe. The hoop is ridged and rounded in cross-section. There is a small ridge of metal around the outer edge of the hoop, probably created during the casting process. It is quite thick at one end, near the join with the bezel. There is also a rough ridge of metal across the middle of the undersurface of the bezel. The upper surface of the bezel is decorated with a figural device, probably a lion. There are rounded protuberances at each end, where it joins the hoop. The ring is badly corroded, obscuring all details. An extra piece of metal is wrapped around the bottom part of the hoop, opposite the bezel.
Function:
A ring with a device on the bezel that created an impression when pressed into a clay or wax seal. It was used as a means of identifying and protecting the property of an individual.
Manufacture:
Made using a mould and the lost-wax method of bronze casting.
Decoration:
- The outer edge of the upper surface of the bezel is raised, forming a frame for the device. This is probably a crouching lion, shown in profile, facing right. The tail curls over the back of the lion.
- The hoop is decorated with ridges.
Bibliography:
Boardman, J., Greek Gems and Finger Rings: Early Bronze Age to Late Classical, London, Thames and Hudson, 1970, 212-238, especially 230-232 (bronze rings).
Comparanda:
Boardman, J., Greek Gems and Finger Rings: Early Bronze Age to Late Classical, London, Thames and Hudson, 1970, Figs. 217, Type IV (same shape), 218 (lion device on ring bezel) and Pls. 294, 575-576 (lions on gems).