Jewelry

This sculptural gold ring is cast and chased. The hoop is rounded and polished on the inside and, on the outside, strongly convex with a textured surface. Forming the bezel, a nude female figure stands on a cultured pearl, clasping drapery in her up- and outstretched hands so that it cascades down her back. A sense of movement is almost palpable in this figure of a standing woman. Here, the sculpture extends dramatically outward, spanning much of the finger in a manner that recalls the Bronze Age spiral and Hellenistic amphora rings. This ring stands apart from these earlier examples in its vitality and its celebration of the female form, evoking the statuesque splendor of Botticelli's Venus.

Provenance:

Raphael Esmerian, Paris and New York (1903-1976).

Literature:

Scarisbrick 2007 [2014], pp. 280-81, fig. 390.

R-500