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Gnostic intaglio with Abraxas

Price: on request
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Object number
AR1954-04
Object: Gnostic intaglio with Abraxas

Material: Dark and green glass paste.

Period: 2nd century AD to 3rd century AD.
Late Roman Imperial period.

Description:    Gnostic intaglio made of dark to greenish glass. Possibly from the region of Roman Egypt. The motif is molded into the glass in great detail.
The oval ring stone tapers to create a small flat side and a slightly larger flat side. The larger side shows a figure with a male, human torso and arms, a cock's head and serpants for legs. It is the god Abraxas. He holds his whip in one hand and a round shield in the other. The rim of this larger side, as well as the center of the smaller side, are inscribed with seemingly meaningless texts in Greek letters meant to be magical or religious formulas.

Background: The intaglio can be assigned to Gnosticism, a collective term for religious teachings of the 2nd and 3rd centuries. The beliefs hardly survived beyond this period of religious upheaval. They seem strange to us today and probably therefore have a certain appeal for modern occultism. Intaglios such as this offer a window into a forgotten era and give the opportunity to study the Gnostic teachings more closely.
The depicted god Abraxas is the supreme deity and was in competition or coexistence with other monotheistic philosophies of the time. Of all the other rather quickly dismissed Gnostic concepts, Abraxas was the longest-held and continued to have adherents as late as the Middle Ages and early Modern Age.

Dimensions: 25.5mm long, 20mm wide. 2mm thick.

Condition: Museum condition. Perfectly preserved apart from insignificant chips.

Provenance: From the German collection of Professor H. Brosch (1923 to 2009), author of historical publications, scientific museum advisor, decorated by the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. The collection was built between 1960 and 1975. It was inherited to U. Buechner, Germany, and then acquired by us in 2013.

The Professor Brosch collection of ancient Gems:
After the decline of the Roman Empire, ancient gems retained or regained recognition in medieval Europe. In addition to frequent reuse in church art, there were also profane uses. This is shown by the example of the ancient intaglio of Julia, daughter of Emperor Titus. It was reused in the 9th century by the Merovingians in the "Escrain de Charlemagne" and can be admired today in the French National Library.
The reception of ancient glyptic during the Italian Renaissance resulted in a great fashion to collect gems, which could be entertained by the European educated bourgeoisie during journeys through the Mediterranean in the spirit of enlightenment and education. Thus Goethe, inspired by his trip to Italy, which was immortalised in literature, also built up a collection of antiquities.
The collection of ancient intaglios by Professor Brosch is certainly a late classicist continuation of this tradition. The collection forms a systematic cross-section of the thematic diversity of ancient gems and has been worked on extensively with a scholarly approach. Professor Brosch had a great interest, not only in ancient history, but also in the more recent history of his home region. He was honoured with the Federal Cross of Merit for his achievements in the field of historical studies. It is with pride that we have fully documented this collection and provided it with literature references. We are now pleased to bring these miniature works of art from the ancient world back into circulation and to enrich a collection in the tradition of the Renaissance and Enlightenment in a worthy manner.
If you are interested in purchasing the collection in its entirety, please do not hesitate to contact us.

References: Cf. British Museum, Museums no. 1917,0501.560, for an Abraxas stone with a similar depiction of the round shield of the god.

Literature: W. Kosack, Geschichte der Gnosis in Antike, Urchristentum und Islam (2014).

Authenticity: We unconditionally guarantee the authenticity of every artefact, all items are subject to our lifetime return policy on authenticity.