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LOT 0146
Roman Marble Head of a Young Man
2ND-3RD CENTURY A.D.
8 7/8 in. (5.94 kg total, 22.5 cm high including stand).
Worked in high-relief with hairstyle typical of the transitional period from the Consulate to the Empire; oval face with a prominent forehead, oval eyelids and clearly defined lines around the eyes; hair arranged in vertical lines combed back from the forehead; pronounced lips, typical rendering of the wide auricles; the lower part of the tunic visible with a well defined round edge around the neck; mounted on a custom-made display stand.
ProvenanceAcquired from Gallery Gryphos, Munich, 1992.
European private collection.
Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.11996-211878.
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.
See Bianchi Bandinelli, R., L'arte Romana nel centro del potere, dalle origini alla fine del II secolo d.C., Roma, 1969; Scrinari, V. S. M., Sculture Romane di Aquileia, Roma, 1972; Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, Greek & Roman Portraits 470 BC – AD 500, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1972, fig.32, for similar funerary portraits in high-relief; Vostchinina, A., Musée de l’Hermitage, Le portrait Romain, Album et catalogue illustré de toute la collection, Leningrad, 1974, plate I, for similar funerary portraits; Agnoli, N., Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Palestrina, Le sculture, Roma, 2002.
FootnotesThe head was probably pertinent to a series of funerary family portraits. It has realistic modelling of male features, which speaks of a portrait in reduced dimensions or a reference to a well-known person in the environment where it was exhibited. The portrait is worked only on the front, leaving the back, as well as the lower part of the sculpture, roughly treated.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0146
Roman Marble Head of a Young Man
Estimate £2,000 - 3,000€2,320 - 3,480 (for guidance only)$2,700 - 4,050 (for guidance only)
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Roman Terracotta Erotic Oil Lamp
1st-2nd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,170
With broad shoulder and volute scrolls above the nozzle, discus with low-relief erotic scene. 79.4 grams, 11.2 cm
Ex Madame Suzanne Gozlan by descent. Madame Suzanne Gozlan (1921-2022), Doctor in History and Archaeology, professor at the Ecole Normale d'Instituteurs de Chartres and lecturer at the University of Paris 4 Sorbonne. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato. -
Life-Size Roman Portrait Head of a Roman Lady, Possibly The Empress Salonina
Late 3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £7,800
Portrait head of a woman with an elaborate coiffure, with the hair at the back parted in the middle and the two strands folded over each other and then pulled to the front to form a looped horizontal layer, then parted in the middle of the forehead and drawn to the back of the head, thereby forming ripples; individual curls represented along the hairline up to the completely exposed ears; some modern infills to the forehead area above the left eye, both upper eyelids, both cheeks in the middle area, left nostril and the chin up to the lower lip; heavily cleaned. 16 kg, 34.5 cm
Acquired on the Parisian art market. with Bernard Tinivella, Saint-Ouen. Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12464-228803. 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.
The coiffure is known as 'Scheitelzopf hairstyle' or 'reverse plait'. The closest parallel for this hairstyle is a portrait bust in the Palazzo dei Conservatori (inv. no. 2767), which corresponds in every detail, including the various decorative curls. 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. Nonetheless, the question must be raised as to whether the portrait shows a member of the imperial family. Hereby physiognomic features and especially imperial coin portraits need to be taken into account. In this context, it is important to note that both eyeballs were reworked, whereby the iris was completely erased. Furthermore, there are pick marks on the eyebrows, eyelids, nose, cheeks, mouth and chin (partly filled in modern times). If these were intentional changes made in the context of the practice of Damnatio memoriae, they would indicate that a lady from the imperial family was represented. The neck has been prepared for insertion into a sculpture. -
Roman Enamelled Bronze Equal-Arm Brooch
2nd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £182
Comprising a wide flat-section bow with a raised enamelled grid to the top, notched edges, stylised beast head foot to each side; hinged pin and pierced catchplate to the reverse. 28.7 grams, 63 mm
Ex German art market, 2000s. Acquired from an EU collector living in London. From the collection of Surrey, UK, gentleman. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
