2nd century AD. A jasper gemstone with incised the image of the goddess Fortuna (Greek Nike), resting and looking towards right, dressed in chiton and peplos, from which her left leg protrudes, cradling a cornucopia in right arm and holding a rudder in left hand; accompanied by a museum-quality impression. See Henig, M., Catalogue of Engraved Gems and Finger Rings in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 2004, no.2.48, for parallel.1.25 grams, 17mm (3/4"). Property of a West Essex gentleman; formerly in a 1980s private collection. The goddess Fortuna was extremely popular throughout the Roman world and her images were often kept by individuals for good luck. Fortuna's symbols include the wheel of fate, the cornucopia of plenty and the rudder with which she steers fate; figurines of Fortuna tend to depict the goddess holding the cornucopia in her right arm, as here, and the rudder in the left.