100-300 AD. Roman. Solid gold ring with circular hoop, thick shoulders decorated with vegetal scroll motifs and oval-shaped scalloped bezel with an orange and white gemstone intaglio setting – possibly agate. The intaglio bears an engraved portrait of a figure shown looking right in profile, wearing a brimmed cap known as a petasos, perhaps to be identified as the God Mercury. In Roman religion, Mercury is the god of shopkeepers and merchants, travellers, thieves and tricksters. He is commonly identified with the Greek Hermes, the fleet-footed messenger of the gods. All samples correspond to the metal content of the period specified; no modern trace elements were detected in the patina; expertly cleaned and conserved.Size: D: 17.97mm / US: 7 3/4 / UK: P 1/2; 16.16g; Provenance: Property of a professional Ancient art and jewelry expert; previously with a London gallery; initially from a private British collection formed in the 1980s.