An early Byzantine ring with a Roman cameo of a parrot perched on a palm frond. The parrot was a popular subject in the early Empire, no doubt for its intelligence and cleverness. This ring is a good example of an earlier stone, or inlay, being used in later antiquity. The reason for this relatively common phenomenon is that after the third century A.D. the skills of glyphic carving rapidly declined in the Roman Empire. By the fourth century only a few workshops remained in the metropolitan centres such as Rome, Constantinople and Alexandria. Even then, the output was small and often quite crude. Therefore earlier stones must have been stocked by merchants who would offer their clients the work of earlier centuries. This practice continued through the ages until in Renaissance Europe the engravers of the classical period could be matched. 21 by 23 mm. Size: 6 Weight: 4.1 gr.