Lot 609

Roman Silver Signet Ring, Jasper Ant Intaglio

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Roman Silver Signet Ring, Jasper Ant Intaglio

Estimate: $900 - $1,300

Current Bid: $450

(1 Bid)

by Artemis Fine Arts
July 30, 2026 8:00 AM MDT
Live Auction
686 S. Taylor Avenue
Suite 108
Louisville, CO, US 80027

Roman, Imperial period, ca. 100–300 CE. A solid silver signet ring set with an oval red jasper engraved with a single ant, its body carved in abbreviated strokes, a slender thorax branching into fine limbs. The band swells to a flat bezel that frames the carnelian-red stone. Intaglios of this kind served as personal seals, pressed into wax or clay to authenticate letters and secure goods. The ant belonged to Ceres' agricultural orbit and read as an emblem of diligence, foresight, and plenty, the harvest stored against winter's lean months. The wing-like strokes above the body may signal a winged ant, which Roman naturalists classed as a distinct kind of ant rather than as a colony's queen. Size of intaglio: 0.3" W x 0.4" H (0.8 cm W x 1.0 cm H); of ring: 1" D x 0.5" H (2.5 cm D x 1.3 cm H); US ring size: 8; silver quality: 94.9%; weight: 8.8 grams.

The ant carried a doubled meaning for Romans. On its bright register it stood for industry and providence: Vergil's ants are hiemis memores, mindful of winter, laying up stores against the lean season (Aen. 4.402-403), while the ant of Proverbs works "having no overseer," self-rule as virtue. Wealth clung to the creature by legend, ants heaped grain into the mouth of the sleeping infant Midas to foretell his riches, and Herodotus's gold-digging ants of India still shipped fineries to Rome in Propertius. A seal flatters its owner, so this is the meaning the jasper invokes: diligence and abundance.

A darker register ran alongside, from the black marching column of Vergil's ant simile to Nero's dream of being covered in winged ants as the provinces rose against him, the swarm read as insurgent multitude. That imperial shadow is context rather than intent here; on a signet, the ant speaks for the harvest kept.

Provenance: private Arden, North Carolina, USA collection, ex-Palmyra Heritage Gallery, acquired 2025; ex-private Vienna, Austria collection, acquired 1990s

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Item # 203601

  • Condition: Light surface wear commensurate with age, but, otherwise, intact, excellent, and wearable with clear imagery.

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Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $749 $25
$750 $1,499 $50
$1,500 $2,999 $100
$3,000 $7,499 $250
$7,500 $14,999 $500
$15,000 $29,999 $1,000
$30,000 $99,999 $5,000
$100,000 + $10,000