Georgian Demeter Intaglio Signet Ring
An 18th century signet ring with intaglio carved carnelian panel depicting the ancient Greek goddess Demeter. Quite unusually, the face is concave meaning that the wax impression it produces is formed over a dome. Mounted in 18 carat gold, the detail is spectacular; Demeter holds a sickle in one hand and two wheat stalks in the other, with a large wheat sheaf laid before her. English, circa 1780.
Demeter; the Mother Goddess of Earth. One of the twelve Olympian deities, she was daughter of the Titans Rhea and Cronus and worshipped as the divinity of agriculture - essentially the Corn Goddess. Along with her daughter, Persephone, Demeter was the focal point of the Eleusinian Mysteries - indeed, the two were known simply as "the Goddesses", with Demeter imagined as the goddess of the ripe grain and her daughter of the budding shoots. Her messenger was Triptolemus who taught and spread her arts of agriculture to new lands, usually travelling in his magical chariot drawn by winged dragons. Her Roman counterpart was Ceres.
When Persephone was abducted by Hades (with the blessing of Zeus, the sky-father), Demeter totally lost it. Led by an unquenchable anguish, Demeter - disguised as an elderly mortal - frantically wandered the Earth in search of her missing daughter. "And she caused the human beings a most terrible and devastating year on the fruitful land. The earth would not send up a single sprout, for Demeter of the lovely crown kept the seed covered. In vein the oxen dragged the many curved ploughs through the fields, and much white barley was sown in the earth to no avail. Now she would have destroyed the entire human race by cruel famine and deprived those who have their homes on Olympus of their glorious prestige from their gifts and sacrifices, if Zeus had not noticed and taken thought in his heart. First her roused golden-winged Iris to summon Demeter of the lovely hair, desirable in her beauty."
Demeter was reunited with her daughter, but Hades had already played his own trick on the Olympians. The lord of the underworld gave Persephone the fruit of the pomegranate, "a honey-sweet morsel, and compelled me to eat it by force against my will", which meant that she must return again to his side, beneath the depths of the earth, for a third of each year.
"Loud-thundering Zeus, who sees far and wide, sent as a messenger to them Rhea of the lovely hair to lead dark-robed Demeter among the company of the gods, and he promised to grant her the honors that she would choose among the immortal gods, and he consented that her daughter live a third part of the revolving year in the gloomy depths below and the other two-thirds by the side of her mother and the other immortals. Thus he ordered, and the goddess Rhea did not disobey the message the message of Zeus. She quickly rushed down from the heights of Olympus and came to the Rharian plain, previously very fertile, but now not fertile at all, standing leafless and barren. The white seed was hidden through the machinations of Demeter of the lovely ankles. But soon thereafter, with the burgeoning of spring, long ears of grain would be luxuriant and the rich furrows too along the ground would be laden with grain, some already bound in sheaves." - excerpts from the Homeric Hymn to Demeter (2) Morford/Lenardon translation (1971)
Era: Georgian, circa 1780
Ring size: L 1/2 or 6 US. Resizeable for £55
Head: 14.2mm by 12.0mm
Stone: Carnelian
Marks: Partial English hallmark (date letter, 1780), tested as 18ct gold
Condition: Great antique condition, light wear consistent with age
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[Last updated: August 29th, 2025]
Resizing
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Condition
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