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| Roman cameo Infant Harpokrates 1st century BC - 1st century AD sardonyx Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
The mythic figure of Harpokrates originated among the Egyptians as "the younger Horus, who was received by Isis from Osiris in the underworld, and is the representative of the winter sun, and also the image of early vegetation, and therefore identified with Priapus. Statues represent him as a naked boy with his finger in his mouth. Misunderstanding this symbol of childhood, the Greeks made him the god of Silence and Secrecy. Afterwards in the time when mysteries were in vogue, his worship was widely extended among the Greeks, and also among the Romans."
– Oskar Seyffert, from The Dictionary of Classical Mythology, Religion, Literature, and Art, first published in German in 1882
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| Roman intaglio Harpokrates riding a Lion 2nd-3rd century AD jasper Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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| Roman intaglio Apollo leaning on a pillar, bow in hand 1st century BC - 2nd century AD peridot Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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| Roman cameo Perseus with the head of Medusa 25 BC - AD 25 sardonyx Getty Museum, Los Angeles |
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| Roman cameo Maenad restraining Pan from butting heads with Goat held by Satyr attributed to Sostratus 25 BC sardonyx Getty Museum, Los Angeles |
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| Roman cameo Side view of Maenad, Pan, Goat and Satyr (above) attributed to Sostratus 25 BC sardonyx Getty Museum, Los Angeles |
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| Roman cameo Bacchic group - Satyr, two Maenads, and Panther 1st century BC - 1st centuryAD sardonyx Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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| Roman cameo Hermaphrodite 1st century BC sardonyx Getty Museum, Los Angeles from the collection of Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel |
"This cameo depicts a hermaphrodite, a sensual being who is both male and female. Here, the hermaphrodite is decidedly feminine. Seated on a cylindrical object, she opens her garment, and by doing so, her bisexuality is revealed: she has breasts and a penis. According to the version of the legend prevalent in the Roman era, the first hermaphrodite was the Hermaphroditus, who, as his name implies, was the son of the messenger-god Hermes and the love-goddess Aphrodite. Hermaphroditus's ill-fated encounter with the nymph Salmacis, who observed him bathing in her spring, led to his transformation into a dual-gender being, and prompted him to wish that all men who bathed in that spring should suffer a similar fate."
– curator's notes from the Getty Museum, which also trace a remarkable provenance for this gem, dating back to the famous 17th-century "Collector Earl" Thomas Howard, as follows –
- 1646 Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel, 1585-1646 (Arundel House, London, England), by inheritance to his wife, Aletheia Talbot Howard, 1646.
1646 - Aletheia Talbot Howard, English, 1585-1654 (Arundel House, London, England), by gift to her son, Henry Frederick Howard.
- 1652 Henry Frederick Howard, 22nd Earl of Arundel, 1608-1652 (Arundel House, London, England), by inheritance to his son, Henry Howard, 1652.
1652 - 1684 Henry Howard, 6th Duke of Norfolk, 1628-1684 (Arundel House, London, England), by inheritance to his second wife, Jane Bickerton Howard, 1684.
- 1684 Jane Bickerton Howard, English, 1643-1693 (Arundel House, London, England), sold to Henry Mordant, father-in-law of her stepson Henry Howard, son of Henry Howard by his first wife Anne Somerset.
by 1690 - 1697 Henry Mordant, 2nd Earl of Peterborough, English, 1621-1697 (Drayton House, Northamptonshire, England), by inheritance to his daughter, Mary Mordant, wife of Henry Howard by her first marriage, the son of Henry Howard and Anne Somerset, 1697.
1697 - 1705 Lady Mary Mordant, English, 1659-1718 (Drayton House, Northamptonshire, England), by inheritance to her second husband, John Germain, 1705.
1705 - 1718 Sir John Germain, English, 1650-1718 (Drayton House, Northamptonshire, England), by inheritance to his second wife, Elizabeth Germain, 1718.
1718 - 1762 Lady Elizabeth Germain, English, 1680-1769 (Knole House, Kent, England), by gift to her great-niece, Mary Beauclerk, on the occasion of her marriage to Charles Spencer, 1762.
1762 - Hon. Mary Beauclerk Spencer, English, 1743-1812 and Lord Charles Spencer, English, 1740-1820, by gift to his elder brother, George Spencer.
by 1765 - 1817 George Spencer, 4th Duke of Marlborough, English, 1739-1817 (Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, England), by inheritance to his eldest son, George Spencer-Churchill, 1817.
1817 - 1840 George Spencer-Churchill, 5th Duke of Marlborough, 1766-1840 (Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, England), by inheritance to his eldest son, George Spencer-Churchill, 1840.
1840 - 1857 George Spencer-Churchill, 6th Duke of Marlborough, 1793-1857 (Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, England), by inheritance to his eldest son, John Winston Spencer-Churchill, 1857.
1857 - 1875 John Winston Spencer-Churchill, 7th Duke of Marlborough, 1822-1883 (Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, England) [sold, The Marlborough Gems: a collection of works in cameo and intaglio formed by George, Third Duke of Marlborough, Christie's, London, June 28, 1875, lot 136, to David Bromilow.]
1875 - 1898 David Bromilow, 1809-1898 (Bitteswell Hall, Leicestershire, England), by descent to his daughter, Mrs. Julia Harriet Mary Jary, 1898.
1898 - 1899 Mrs. Julia Harriet Mary Jary (Bitteswell Hall, Leicestershire, England) [sold, The Marlborough Gems, Christie's, London, June 26th, 1899, lot 136, to Constantine Alexander Ionides (acquired for Ionides by Frances Edward Whelan).]
1899 - 1900 Constantine Alexander Ionides, Greek, 1833-1900 (London, England – major benefactor of the Victoria & Albert Museum), by inheritance to his son, Alexander Constantine Ionides, 1900.
1900 - 1931 Alexander Constantine Ionides, 1862-1931 (London, England), by inheritance to his heirs, 1931.
1931 - Heirs of Alexander Constantine Ionides.
by 1968 - Lady Adam Gordon, great grand-daughter of Alexander Constantine Ionides.
- 2001 Mrs. Diana Scarisbrick, born 1928, sold through Oliver Forge (London, England) to the J. Paul Getty Museum, 2001.
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| Roman cameo Aurora driving her chariot 1st century BC - 1st century AD sardonyx Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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| Roman cameo Achilles dragging the corpse of Hector behind his chariot 1st century AD glass Getty Museum, Los Angeles |
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| Roman intaglio Helmet decorated with Bellerophon on Pegasus 1st century BC - 3rd century AD jasper Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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| Roman intaglio Horseman spearing Boar 2nd-3rd century AD jasper set in gold with glass and pearls Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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| Roman intaglio Mercury AD 250-400 carnelian Getty Museum, Los Angeles |
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| Roman cameo Chariot Driver AD 100-300 onyx set in Langobardic gold disc brooch studded with glass, AD 600 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
"The Langobards often embellished their own jewelry with gems carved centuries earlier by Roman or Etruscan craftsmen. These gems, valued for their antiquity, linked their Langobardic wearers to the illustrious peoples who preceded them on the Italian peninsula."
– curator's notes from the Metropolitan Museum