Inscribed in Greek, "SKULAKO" (partial inscription; transliterated); numbered at lower right, "16".
This study is preparatory for an illustration in the Prussian antiquarian Baron Philipp von Stosch's Gemmae Antiquar Caelatae (Pierres antiques gravees), Amsterdam: 1724, plate LVIII. The volume contains 70 engravings by Picart after carved gems in various European collections. This study was based on a carved amethyst depicting a satyr's head in the Leoni Strozzi (1657-1722) collection in Rome.
Stosch himself amassed a collection of over 3000 gems which were documented in a celebrated 1760 catalogue by Johann Winckelmann. The crack in the gem's surface indicated by Picart reflects his close study and attention to the condition of the objects he was documenting.
Tully, Alice, 1902-1993, former owner.