A hollow-formed gold gusseted hoop with filigree band, square bezel with granulated border, jasper insert with intaglio profile bust of Cupid (Eros) with lateral wings. Eros was the Greek god of love, finding his Roman counterpart in Cupid and Amor. He was the son of Aphrodite and Ares and the Greek poet Hesiod sings his praises as the most beautiful of the gods. In Classical art and popular belief he is shown as a winged youth with a bow and arrow which he fires into the hearts of gods and men, thus awakening them to love. The Spartans paid homage to him before going into battle as he was the god who forged the relationships between the Spartan warriors. His cult in Greece was particularly ancient and at his main cult centre at Thespiai in Boeotia he was worshipped in the form of a sacred stone. His power to arouse and move the world led the Orphic cult to recognise him as the creator of the world.
4th-5th century A.D.
Provenance: from an important Mayfair, London, UK, collection; formed by the family in the 1970s.
Literature: cf. Ruseva-Slokoska, L. Roman Jewellery, Sofia, 1991, item 260 for type.