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Details
LOT 0971
Roman Bronze Ring with Mars Holding a Spear
1ST-2ND CENTURY A.D.
1 in. (6.59 grams, 24.65 mm overall, 20.84 mm internal diameter (approximate size British V 1/2, USA 10 3/4, Europe 24.4, Japan 23)).
With a discoid bezel, an impressed standing figure with a horsetail plume on his helmet holding a lance or spear in one hand and supporting a shield with the other. [No Reserve]
Provenance
Acquired on the UK art market before 2000.
Property of an Essex, UK, gentleman.
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The portrait head was initially meant to be assembled on a statue. Chisel marks at the neck level indicate a relatively late separation of the head from the body, which must have been twice its natural size. The working of the back of the head suggests that the sculpture was exposed only to the front. The search for realistic traits brings this head close to the Hellenistic portraits of the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC, representing socially disadvantaged people of different ages and situations, such as fishermen and peasants, in the so-called genre sculptures. This presentation would be in contrast to the supernatural proportions of the portrait, which should have represented an elderly, publicly known person, poet, or philosopher, exhibited in his city of origin. In this respect, it would be more suited to the representation of a Cynical philosopher, in the model of Diogenes of Villa Albani. The almond-shaped eyes without drilled pupils, engraved eyes, and the absence of a deep drilling technique on hair date the portrait between the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD.
