Object Description
Ancient Roman ring with Faunus intaglio. Set with an oval cornelian intaglio with a full length figure of Faunus with shepherd’s crook and pipes, in an closed back rubover setting, bordered by a granulated border and flanked by a pair of gold pellets, the smoothly conforming shoulders with tightly coiled wirework decoration lead on to a solid round shank. Tested yellow gold, circa 2nd-3rd century AD.
A Roman deity, Faunus was worshiped as the god of the forest, plains and fields. A mythological hybrid with human and goat attributes, in this example Faunus is distinguished by his musical pipes and crook. The Greek equivalent for this deity is Pan.