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A Roman marble portrait head of a man image 1
A Roman marble portrait head of a man image 2
A Roman marble portrait head of a man image 3
Lot 162

A Roman marble portrait head of a man

Antiquities
7 July 2016, 10:30 BST
London, New Bond Street

£15,000 - £25,000

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A Roman marble portrait head of a man
Hadrianic Period, circa A.D. 117-138
Life-sized, with thick wavy hair combed forward in undulating rows, ending in curls along the brow, with a curly beard, the small eyes unarticulated, the lightly incised brows drawn into a slight frown, 28.5cm high

Footnotes

Provenance:
Peter Willborg Collection, Stockholm, Sweden, since 1999.
Max Willborg (1933-2001) Collection, Stockholm, Sweden.
Christie's, London, 5 July 1995, lot 202.
Christie's, London, 28 November 1979, lot 81.

Literature:
This marble head has been previously identified as depicting the Emperor Hadrian and the left ear does appear to have the same earfold as seen on Hadrian's portraits.

However it is more likely to be a private portrait and is very similar to a portrait of a winner at the Isthmian games from Schloss Erbach: cf. K. Fittschen, Katalog der antiken Skulpturen in Schloss Erbach, Berlin, 1977, 20, note 2, no. 6; K. Fittschen, P. Zanker, P. Cain, Katalog der römischen Porträts in den Capitolinischen Museen und den anderen kommunalen Sammlungen der Stadt Rom, 2, Die männlichen Privatporträts, BeitrESkAr 4, Berlin, 2010, cat. no. 101, pl. 123-124;

Additional information

Bid now on these items

An Anatolian marble idol
A Mesopotamian clay cuneiform foundation cone with dedication inscription of King Lipit-Ishtar of Isin
A small Mesopotamian clay cuneiform foundation cone inscribed for King Sin-Kashid of Uruk
A Neo-Assyrian or Neo-Hittite bronze helmet with pelta-shaped cheek-pieces
A Babylonian agate "eye-stone" bead, inscribed for Nebuchadnezzar II
A large Etruscan Impasto Ware pottery olla
A Roman marble torso of a youth wearing a tunic
A Roman marble head of a satyr
An Attic pottery tankard with geometric decoration
A Greek bronze horse
A Greek pottery alabastron in the form of a greaved leg
A Greek green glazed faience hedgehog aryballos
A Greek bronze hydria with siren handle-plate
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An Attic black-figure Little Master band-cup with grazing deer and panther
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