Getty Museum

Cone-shaped engraved seal

Date

2300–2000 B.C.

Medium

Hippopotamus ivory

Culture

Greek (Minoan)

Department

Jewelry

Institution

Getty Museum

A spiral motif decorates the flat end of this cone-shaped seal. The ancient engraver has organized the design to fill the circular field of the seal. Minoan craftsmen carved seals from stone, ivory, and other precious materials. When pressed into soft clay or wax, the engraved seals produced relief images. Such impressions were employed as signatures on documents, and to seal pots and other containers as a way to guarantee or label their contents. Simple designs decorated the earliest seals, while later examples show detailed pictorial compositions. Although stones found locally, such as hematite, carnelian, steatite, agate, and jasper were commonly used, seals were also produced from exotic materials, such as amethyst, lapis lazuli, and hippopotamus ivory.

The authoritative record is held by Getty Museum. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.