Getty Museum

Finger Ring with a Sphinx and Winged Lion

Date

550–500 B.C.

Medium

Hoop: gold-plated silver; bezel: gold

Culture

Etruscan

Department

Jewelry

Institution

Getty Museum

A gold-plated hoop has added oval bezel framed by a hatched border, which encloses an image of a sphinx with its foreleg raised (left) facing a winged lion (right). The sphinx has a human head and is wearing a pointed cap. Between the two creatures is a branch and below the sphinx is a star. Greek and Etruscan metal rings with engraved bezels ultimately derive from Egyptian and Phoenician cartouche-shaped rings. The influence is clearest on rings such as this one, with a long straight-sided bezel and rounded ends. The cartouche-shaped ring was especially popular in Etruria, where a number of examples have been discovered in the tombs of women.

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