Carnelian - Intaglio Carving - Sisyphus - 12.07ct
In Greek mythology Sisyphus was the ruler of Ephyra and a bit of a tyrant. The basic story goes that he was a very nasty piece of work and often killed travellers and guests to show off his power which violated the traditions of guest hospitality. This, along with some other less-than-desirable traits including cheating death on a number of occasions, of course greatly ticked off the other gods. So in punishment the gods set Sisyphus to the task of rolling an immense boulder up a hill only for it to roll back down to the bottom again once he neared the top.
Thus Sisyphus was fated to forever repeat the task the next day. I expect there is more to the story and much can be gleaned and interpreted from it as many scholars, poets and writers have over the years. No doubt it wouldn’t take too much of a stretch of the imagination to see a reflection of Sisyphus’s endless rolling of the boulder in the repetition of our day-to-day jobs and endevours.
I carved this piece with the intention that it can be used as a ring seal for creating wax seals. I have an example of the wax seal in one of the pictures.
#1979
Red Carnelian
Brazil
Intaglio Carving of Sisyphus
Untreated
Translucent
12.07 Carats
21.93x19.09x3.25mm
In Greek mythology Sisyphus was the ruler of Ephyra and a bit of a tyrant. The basic story goes that he was a very nasty piece of work and often killed travellers and guests to show off his power which violated the traditions of guest hospitality. This, along with some other less-than-desirable traits including cheating death on a number of occasions, of course greatly ticked off the other gods. So in punishment the gods set Sisyphus to the task of rolling an immense boulder up a hill only for it to roll back down to the bottom again once he neared the top.
Thus Sisyphus was fated to forever repeat the task the next day. I expect there is more to the story and much can be gleaned and interpreted from it as many scholars, poets and writers have over the years. No doubt it wouldn’t take too much of a stretch of the imagination to see a reflection of Sisyphus’s endless rolling of the boulder in the repetition of our day-to-day jobs and endevours.
I carved this piece with the intention that it can be used as a ring seal for creating wax seals. I have an example of the wax seal in one of the pictures.
#1979
Red Carnelian
Brazil
Intaglio Carving of Sisyphus
Untreated
Translucent
12.07 Carats
21.93x19.09x3.25mm
In Greek mythology Sisyphus was the ruler of Ephyra and a bit of a tyrant. The basic story goes that he was a very nasty piece of work and often killed travellers and guests to show off his power which violated the traditions of guest hospitality. This, along with some other less-than-desirable traits including cheating death on a number of occasions, of course greatly ticked off the other gods. So in punishment the gods set Sisyphus to the task of rolling an immense boulder up a hill only for it to roll back down to the bottom again once he neared the top.
Thus Sisyphus was fated to forever repeat the task the next day. I expect there is more to the story and much can be gleaned and interpreted from it as many scholars, poets and writers have over the years. No doubt it wouldn’t take too much of a stretch of the imagination to see a reflection of Sisyphus’s endless rolling of the boulder in the repetition of our day-to-day jobs and endevours.
I carved this piece with the intention that it can be used as a ring seal for creating wax seals. I have an example of the wax seal in one of the pictures.
#1979
Red Carnelian
Brazil
Intaglio Carving of Sisyphus
Untreated
Translucent
12.07 Carats
21.93x19.09x3.25mm