Sterling silver plaque paperweight depicting Antinoo, the young lover of Emperor Hadrian

In this green Alpi marble paperweight a sterling silver plaque depicting Antinous, the young man so loved by the Emperor Hadrian, has been set. Antinoüs, (born c. 110, Bithynium, Bithynia—died 130, near Besa, Egypt), lover of the Roman emperor Hadrian, deified by the emperor after his death in Egypt, where he drowned. Hadrian erected temples to him throughout the empire and founded a city, named Antinoöpolis, in his honour, near the place where he died. An obelisk, now in Rome near the Porta Maggiore, marked his tomb. Many sculptures, gems, and coins survive depicting Antinoüs as a model of youthful beauty.