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Lot 126

A Roman marble female portrait head

Antiquities
28 November 2019, 10:30 GMT
London, New Bond Street

£20,000 - £30,000

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A Roman marble female portrait head
Circa 30 B.C.-14 A.D.
Possibly Octavia Minor, with lidded almond-shaped eyes, her thin lips forming a stern expression, her wavy hair drawn back from her face and dressed in a characteristic roll above her brow, the back summarily carved, 24.5cm high

Footnotes

Provenance:
Mr A. collection, Paris, acquired prior to 1996.

Published:
F. Antonovich, Les Métamorphoses Divines d'Alexandre, Paris, 1996, p. 242.
C.-G. Schwentzel, Images d'Alexandre et des Ptolémées, Paris, 1999, no. 86.

This portrait replicates the characteristic nodus hairstyle of Octavia Minor, as well as her thin-lipped expression, and is similar to a portrait of Octavia in the Museo Nazionale Romano, inv. no. 124500. Octavia Minor was the beloved sister of the emperor Augustus, and wife of Mark Anthony, though she was abandoned by the latter in favour of Cleopatra in 32 B.C. If this portrait is indeed of Octavia, it is likely of provincial origin.

Additional information

Bid now on these items

An Anatolian marble idol
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