Fellows Auctioneers sold a gold ring featuring a garnet intaglio for GBP 117,000 ($145,232) last week, with the piece smashing its GBP 200 ($248) high estimate.
The Birmingham, UK-based auction house sold the jewel at its April 13 Fine Jewelry sale, it said Tuesday. The ring featured an intricate intaglio of a man’s head in profile, possibly depicting Augustus Caesar, according to the auction house. Augustus was the first emperor of the Roman Empire, ruling from 27 BCE until 14 CE.
The specialist jewelry auctioneer didn’t provide a date for the ring, but it was among 10 other intaglio pieces, with one from 1 CE. All 11 pieces available at the auction exceeded estimates, Fellows said.
The jewel attracted collectors throughout the world, who made online and telephone bids. A telephone bidder ultimately succeeded in securing the lot after 17 minutes of activity.
“Not only did we achieve an amazing price for our vendor, we had the opportunity to handle an extremely interesting piece of jewelry history,” said Nicola Whittaker, business development manager at Fellows. “It is rare to see such an intricately carved piece in such fine condition.”
Image: The gold ring featuring a garnet intaglio. (Fellows Auctioneers)
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