Sale: CNG 81, Lot: 1466. Estimate $200.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 20 May 2009.  Sold For $200. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Garnet cameo with head of cherub. Greek, circa 2nd century BC. Cameo in the form of a facing cherub head, slightly hollowed on reverse. Height: 1.1 cm. Some surface damage mainly to the right side of the face, otherwise a nice piece.

This subject was to become common under the Roman period; see, for example, Antje Krug, Antike Gemmen im Römisch-Germanischen Museum Köln (Frankfurt: Verlag Philipp von Zabern, 1981), cat. 203-204. In fact, while noted gem expert M.L. Vollenweider has classified some as Hellenistic, other scholars consider them all to date from the Augustan period.