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_900x900.jpg "Life-Size Roman Bronze Head of an Empress")
_200x200.jpg "Life-Size Roman Bronze Head of an Empress")
_900x900.jpg "Life-Size Roman Bronze Head of an Empress")
_200x200.jpg "Life-Size Roman Bronze Head of an Empress")
.jpg "Life-Size Roman Bronze Head of an Empress")
.jpg "Life-Size Roman Bronze Head of an Empress")
LOT 0176
Life-Size Roman Bronze Head of an Empress
MID-3RD CENTURY A.D.
15 7/8 in. (4.07 kg, 40.5 cm high including stand).
A member of the Imperial family, possibly an empress, depicted with an elaborate coiffure, the hair at the back of the head parted in the middle and the two strands folded over each other, then pulled to the front to form a looped horizontal layer parted in the middle of the smooth forehead and drawn back, individual curls represented as vertical lines along the forehead hairline up to the exposed ears, two locks hanging down the sides behind the ears, extending to the upper part of the neck; beautiful facial rendering with stoic expression, exquisite detailing to the eyebrows, eyelids and pupils; snub-nose, closed lips, thin and graceful neck; mounted on a custom-made display stand.
ProvenanceAcquired on the German art market, early 1970s.
German private family collection; by gift to the owner's son in 2015.
Private collection, London.
Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffele D'Amato, and Dr Marina Mattei, former curator of the Capitoline Museums for over 40 years.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12607-234556.
This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
Cf. Felletti Maj, B.M., Museo Nazionale Romano, I Ritratti, Roma, 1953; Bianchi Bandinelli, R., Roma: la fine dell’arte Antica, Milano, 1970; Zanker, P., Roman Portraits: Sculptures in Stone and Bronze in the Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2016, fig.30.
FootnotesThe mature age of the woman depicted in the portrait is revealed by the oval gaunt, deep-set eyes and the folds at the sides of the nose and mouth. The woman’s head shows the typical traits of the full and mature 3rd century A.D., executed in a Hellenistic style tradition. Our sculpture is well inserted in the imperial portrait type, bearing technical and aesthetical parallels to portraits in bronze. The hairstyle could be Scheitelzopf (or reverse plait), tightened by a hairnet, pinned to the top of the head. The same type of hairstyle, albeit with variations in the details (decorative curls and position of the hair loop), is found on a few other portraits of women that were dated to the Period of Gallienus by Marianne Bergmann. Some of the portraits in this typologically related group are likely to be private portraits. Hereby physiognomic features and especially imperial coin portraits need to be taken into account. In this context, it is important to compare the portrait with that of Trebonianus Gallus in the MET.
Like the sculpture of Trebonianus Gallus, the head fits stylistically with Roman provincial bronzes from the Eastern Mediterranean or North Africa, possibly from workshops of Asia Minor or from the great metropolis of Alexandria, where bronze statuary was more common and Hellenistic influences remained strong.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0176
Life-Size Roman Bronze Head of an Empress
Estimate £60,000 - 80,000€69,600 - 92,800 (for guidance only)$81,000 - 108,000 (for guidance only)
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Roman Bronze Tweezer Collection
1st-4th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £124
Comprising: two with rectangular-section arms; one with tapering, pointed arms decorated with ring-and-dot motifs and hatching to the edges, pierced terminals. 14.5 grams total, 54-70 mm
Ex German art market, 2000s. Acquired from an EU collector living in London. From the collection of a Surrey, UK, gentleman. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato. -
Roman Glass Cameo with Female Bust
1st century A.D.Estimate: £500 - 700 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £225
Ellipsoid black glass plaque with profile female bust, hair dressed in a chignon. 1.82 grams, 18.58 mm
Acquired in the mid 1980s-1990s. Private collection, Switzerland, thence by descent. Private collection, since the late 1990s. Accompanied by a copy of an Art Loss Register certificate, no.S00011371. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato. -
Roman Bronze Combat Plate Brooch
2nd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £260
Openwork design of a gladiator (bestiarius) tackling a leaping beast; round and ellipsoid sockets for enamel fill; pin-lugs and catch to the reverse; riverine patination. 10.1 grams, 35 mm
From a private, UK, collection in the 1980s. Property of a London, UK, antiquarian. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
