1880s Egyptian Revival Victorian Scarab Ring

An intriguing and marvelous Victorian Egyptian revival ring, set with an excavated steatite scarab dating to circa 1800-2000 BC. The setting and shank is solid 14k gold, and feature gorgeous shoulders echoing the ancient Egyptian lotus motif. The ring is quite heavy and solidly made, weighing an impressive 9.9 grams.

Crafted from faience pottery or carved from steatite (a soft metamorphic rock), these scarab beetles became wildly popular during the twelfth dynasty as protective amulets or portable personal seals. They are almost always found with a drilled hole along its length and hieroglyphics on the reverse side, with the inscriptions serving as auspicious sayings or signatures. By stringing a cord through the drilled hole, Egyptians carried them either around the neck, hanging from the waist, or around the finger as gold wire rings. The scarab beetle was a symbol of the sun and creation, and Egyptians would coat these amulets with colors (or glazes, in the case of the faience pottery versions) described in the Book of the Dead. Dark blue was to represent the night sky, green for new growth and resurrection, and red for energy and life. In the case of this particular ring, the scarab surface still contains traces of green pigment.

In the 19th century, European decorative arts have favored Egyptian motifs ever since Napoleon’s Egyptian campaigns, which included an enormous contingent of scientists and scholars assigned to the invading French force, and the resulting research gave birth to Egyptology in Europe. A renewed wave of Egyptomania arose when the British opened the Suez Canal in 1869, resulting in a large number of Egyptian style jewelry made throughout the 1870s and 1880s. Rings from this period were decorated with classic Egyptian motifs such as the lotus plant, hieroglyphics, and excavated scarabs. This particular ring dates from this period.