Hellenistic Gold Finger Ring

This rare, museum-quality Hellenistic gold finger ring, probably the finest ring on the market today outside of a museum, dating to circa the 3rd to 2nd Century B.C. (likely Alexandria), features an imposing oval bezel executed in extraordinarily high-relief repoussé and masterfully chased detail. The composition depicts the goddess Aphrodite draped in a delicate chiton with wavy, diadem-bound hair, turned three-quarters as the winged infant Eros (Amor) perches affectionately upon her right shoulder. The repoussé bust is set within a stepped, molded border integrated into a tapered, heavy gold hoop designed in antiquity to be worn. 

Length 1 3/8 in. (3.5 cm.) weight 23.2 g

Recent X-ray fluorescence (XRF) elemental analysis confirms an ancient, solid high-karat gold composition of approximately 21.6K (90.31% Au, 7.70% Ag, and 1.19% Cu) with no plating detected.

The iconographic type directly mirrors the celebrated Hellenistic gold medallion of Aphrodite and Eros from South Russia in the Antikenmuseum Berlin, published by Jack Ogden in Jewellery of the Ancient World (p. 74, fig. 11). The piece boasts an unbroken, elite pedigree: acquired directly on February 14, 1976, from esteemed New York dealer Mathias Komor (Stock No. E822) by international financier Maurice Tempelsman, the longtime partner of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

Elegant in conception and refined in execution, this Hellenistic gold ring exemplifies the jewelry traditions of Ptolemaic Egypt while utilizing the inherently classic motif of Aphrodite with her son, Eros. Its oval bezel, modeled in raised relief rather than intaglio, reflects the sculptural approach of Alexandrian workshops, where Greek and Egyptian techniques converged. For a discussion of this ring type see M. Y. Treister, Hammering Techniques in Greek and Roman Jewellery and Teurotics, Boston and New York, 2001, pp. 190-191.

For similar examples depicting busts of Athena, see https://dma.org/art/collection/object/5184745 and

https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/G_1897-0726-5.