A finely carved ancient Roman oval carnelian intaglio depicting a centaur holding a spear, facing left. A centaur is a creature with the upper body of a human and the lower half of a horse. He is depicted wearing a headpiece with projecting details, possibly a helmet. The reverse is smooth and undecorated. The surface of the intaglio shows very minimal wear, with some earthly encrustation visible in the engraving. The carnelian presents with a lovely translucency, with some orange striations. 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: L 1.4cm x W 0.8cm