A fine ancient Roman carnelian intaglio featuring an oval shape, finely carved on the front with the depiction of a seated male, possibly a god or a hero, portrayed resting on rocks with one leg bent at the knee and holding a mace and a dagger in his hands. The term intaglio refers to a small image that has been engraved into a gemstone and usually set in a piece of jewellery, most commonly a ring. Such artistic form has its origin in Sumer in the 4th millennium BC, with the appearance of cylinder and stamp seals, whereby decorations and patterns were engraved into soft stones. During the Hellenistic period and the early Roman Empire, the art of intaglio reached its apogee, with there being a steady decline in craftsmanship in the late Imperial Rome, until a revival of interest with the Byzantine and during the Renaissance. Measurements: Circa L 1.2 cm x W 1.0 cm Provenance: From SM London collection, by descent, 1970-99.