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Lot 141

A Roman marble male portrait head

3 July 2019, 10:00 BST
London, New Bond Street

£10,000 - £15,000

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A Roman marble male portrait head
Circa late 1st-mid 2nd Century A.D.
The life-size head turned slightly to the right, his thick hair combed forward from the crown over his forehead, sweeping around his ears and long at the nape of the neck, with deep-set, articulated eyes and a heavy jawline, the neck with naturalistic creases of flesh, 28cm high

Footnotes

Provenance:
José Louis Vinas collection, Spain, acquired in the 1970s.
Private collection, France.
Anonymous sale; Binoche & Giquello, Paris, 23 November 2018, lot 127.

This portrait's straight locks are brushed forward onto the forehead in the style popularised by Trajan, as shown in a bust of the emperor in the NY Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen, inv. no. 1477. This style of portraiture continued to remain popular into the Antonine Period.

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