Hellenistic, 50-25 B.C.

England, first half 19th-century, based on the ring mount;

Fellows, Birmingham, 30 Sep 2019, lot 574;

acquired European art dealer;

from whom acquired by the present owner

Naked youth standing frontally, his legs spread, his round-cheeked face in three-quarters view; his left (in impression) arm raised, as if he has just thrown something. Field matte, surface wear, figure highly polished. Tiny globular drill work (eyes; chin; kneecaps). Breaks at bottom, removing most of his feet. Very fine and detailed work, convincingly conveying an impression of strength and movement in the figure.

The motif is rare, but well-documented in ancient gems, all roughly contemporary, as it seems; this example, with its use of tiny globular drill work and fine detail, belongs squarely in the later first century BC, more precisely c. 50-25 BC, a period marking one of the high points in the history of the glyptic arts.

In isolation it is not easy to fathom what the youth is actually engaged in: has he just thrown a discus, or a javelin? However, parallels can apparently answer the question; the ones known to me are:

1. Skt. Petersburg, Hermitage: A. Furtwängler, Die antiken Gemmen (1900), Taf. XLIV,30; G. Lippold, Gemmen und Kameen (1922), Taf. LV,14. Chalcedony intaglio, mid- to late first century BC, judging from photo.

2. Berlin, Staatliche Museen Antikensammlung: Furtwängler op. cit. (1900), Taf. XLIV,28; E. Zwierlein-Diehl, Antike Gemmen in deutschen Sammlungen II (1969), 176f, no. 478.

Amethyst intaglio, 19.5 mm, last third of first century BC (thus Zwierlein-Diehl).

3. Location unknown: Sotheby’s Antiquities NY Dec. 11 (2002), lot 154; Ancient Treasures X, Antiquarium Ltd. (n. d.), 33. Garnet intaglio in original gold ring setting, ‘first century BC’ (thus Antiquarium cat.).

4. Location unknown: W. Froehner, Collection de M. de. Montigny, Pierres gravées, vente 23-25 mai (1887), 39, no. 530, pl. 4. Carnelian intaglio, 10 mm. First century BC/AD, judging from photo.

The closest parallel to this gem is the Berlin amethyst no. 2, which like this version stresses the muscular strength, speed, and movement of the athlete rather than finicky precision in rendering every detail, as particularly in the Hermitage version which, for all its technical mastery, appears far more statuesque and lifeless.

These four parallels all show the athlete holding a discus in his right (in impression) hand, reins or a strap in his raised left hand. All publications of the motif have so far taken the figure as simply a discus thrower and left the strap unexplained (Zwierlein-Diehl apparently did not notice it, though it appears present in her plate illustration; Furtwängler noted it in the Hermitage version, but could not explain it: ‘hält … einen Riemen, zu welchem Zwecke ist unklar.’)

The strap, however, gives the solution: the figure must be a pentathlete; he has just thrown his javelin, his gaze intently following its course; and his next discipline will be discus throwing, as shown by the discus held in his other hand. The reins/strap must be the amentum, in Greek ankyle (ἀγκύλη): a leather strap wound around the middle of the javelin shaft to set it in rotation and thus increase length and precision of the throw (see H. A. Harris, ‘Greek Javelin Throwing’, Greece & Rome 10,1 (Mar. 1963), 26-36).

The pentathlete was indeed considered the ideal type of athlete in antiquity; thus Aristotle describing the ultimate physical beauty of a young man: ‘a body capable of enduring all efforts, either of the racecourse or of bodily strength ...This is why the athletes in the pentathlon are most beautiful.’ (Aristotle, Rhetoric 1361b) The sequence of disciplines in the pentathlon in the ancient Olympic Games was 1) long jump, 2) javelin throwing, 3) discus throwing, 4) stadion (a short foot race), 5) wrestling, confirming the interpretation of the gem motif where javelin throwing is evidently, and similarly, to be followed by discus throwing. See further J. Swaddling, The Ancient Olympic Games (1980) for the pentathlon in the games.

On this gem neither discus nor ankyle are shown: it is minimalist, focusing exclusively on the physicality and prowess of the young man’s body in motion; the high polish of the figure, and not of the field surrounding him, reflects his appearance in real life where he must be imagined as glistening with oil and sweat. The ancient observer would have been sufficiently familiar with the motif (which may reproduce a Greek statue type of the fourth century BC, as suggested by Furtwängler, commenting on no. 2 above) to recognise it even without the ankyle and discus; their omission, however, clearly suggests that the gem’s original owner, who commissioned it, was more interested in the physicality of the young male figure than in the sports aspect of the motif.

Sotheby's wishes to thank Dr Ittai Gradel for providing the above write-up.

The illustrated write-up by Dr Gradel, dated 26 May 2022, is available upon request.