Bidspirit auction | A SARDONYX CARVED BEAD WITH

A SARDONYX CARVED BEAD WITH AN INTAGLIO OF A BIGA ADDED IN ROMAN TIMES, 1ST MILLENIUM BC AND 2ND CENTURY AD - A sardonyx bead from the early 1st mill BC probably Babylonian in the shape of an eye has been engraved with a biga running left with the driver holding the reins and cracking a whip above the horses. This is a case of an earlier eye bead which has been refashioned in Antiquity in order to provide the use of a personal seal as well. It is common to find haematite weights from Babylonia engraved in late Roman times with Gnostic types. 30 by 11 mm. PROVENANCE From a European collection formed in the 1980's.