Getty Museum

Engraved Scaraboid with Dove Carrying a Letter

Date

about 400 B.C.

Medium

Cornelian

Culture

Greek

Department

Jewelry

Institution

Getty Museum

This scaraboid gem is engraved with a dove flying left, carrying a scroll tied with a cord held in its beak. A scaraboid is a simplified scarab, with a plain curved back and an intaglio design decorating the flat underside. The form gradually replaced the scarab in Greece in the 400s B.C. Like scarabs, they were typically pierced and worn either as a ring or pendant. When attached to a metal hoop and worn as a ring, the curved side faced out and the intaglio surface rested against the finger. When needed as a seal, the ring was removed, the gem swiveled, and the intaglio design was pressed into soft clay or wax to identify and secure property. Doves were associated with Aphrodite and the scroll shown here should probably be considered a love-letter. This suggests that the gem may have been given as a love-token rather than being used as a seal.

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