Roman or Later Mosaic Glass Bead

Comprising twelve rings of different sizes and types, some with incuse motifs on the bezel. 56.2 grams total, 20-32 mm



Ex German art market, 2000s. Acquired from an EU collector living in London. From the collection of a Surrey, UK, gentleman.

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. 4.07 kg, 40.5 cm high including stand



Acquired 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.

The 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.

Carved in the round bust of a cynical, mature philosopher with short tousled hair and thick beard, exaggerated protruding eyes and gaunt facial features, the mouth modelled slightly open as if the subject is in pain; mounted on a custom-made stand. 47.6 kg total, 60 cm including stand



Private collection, Paris, 1980s. European private collection. Accompanied by a copy of French passport no.237041. Accompanied by an academic report by Professor Neritan Ceka. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12610-234690. 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 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.