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Lot Essay
Made of blue chalcedony-- the most popular material during the Classical period-- this scaraboid depicts a nude woman twisting back to gaze at her own bottom in a hand-mirror. The pose is a tour-de-force, naturalistically and accurately depicted. She is adorned in earrings, a beaded necklace and bracelets. Her hair is rolled over the forehead and tied in a fillet, with long tresses falling on to each shoulder.
The subject is related to the so-called Aphrodite Kallipygos where the goddess lifts her dress and gazes back at herself but without the benefit of a mirror (see the marble statue in Naples, no. 765 in A. Delivorrias, "Aphrodite," in LIMC, vol. I, and the green glass scaraboid in the British Museum, pl. 650 in Boardman, Greek Gems and Finger Rings). The pose is also related to the nude bronze figure in Munich, now armless, no. 497 in Delivorrias, op. cit. For the style and similar body modeling compare the mottled jasper scaraboid in Syracuse and the blue chalcedony scaraboid in the Danicourt collection, pls. 547 & 548 in Boardman, Greek Gems and Finger Rings.
The subject is related to the so-called Aphrodite Kallipygos where the goddess lifts her dress and gazes back at herself but without the benefit of a mirror (see the marble statue in Naples, no. 765 in A. Delivorrias, "Aphrodite," in LIMC, vol. I, and the green glass scaraboid in the British Museum, pl. 650 in Boardman, Greek Gems and Finger Rings). The pose is also related to the nude bronze figure in Munich, now armless, no. 497 in Delivorrias, op. cit. For the style and similar body modeling compare the mottled jasper scaraboid in Syracuse and the blue chalcedony scaraboid in the Danicourt collection, pls. 547 & 548 in Boardman, Greek Gems and Finger Rings.