Bidspirit auction | Post Medieval Intaglio with Lion

Post Medieval Intaglio with Lion - 18th-19th century AD A drum-shaped glass intaglio seal matrix with image of an advancing lion with a putto on its back playing a lyre. 2.47 grams, 14mm (1/2”). Very fine condition. Provenance Property of a retired London collector; acquired before 1990. Footnotes The image of a putto or Cupid riding on the back of a lion is one that first appears in the Hellenistic period, but found greater popularity in the Roman Empire. The message of this imagery is ”love conquers all” and is found in mosaics, such as that from the House of the Faun in Pompeii, the reverse of coins, such as that of the Emperor Diadumenianus, and also jewellery, mostly cameos and intaglios. It is a motif that found renewed popularity in the Victorian period.