The Lloyd and Jeanne Raport Collection (Lots 111-143)
Lot 130*
A Roman marble portrait head of a priest of Isis
4 December 2025, 11:00 GMT
London, New Bond Street£25,000 - £30,000
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A Roman marble portrait head of a priest of Isis
Circa mid-late 2nd Century A.D.
27cm high, old red ink inscribed number '37' on the back of the head, with a custom made plinth, 122cm x 25,6cm diam
27cm high, old red ink inscribed number '37' on the back of the head, with a custom made plinth, 122cm x 25,6cm diam
Footnotes
Provenance:
Lloyd and Jeanne Raport Collection, Washington DC and Florida, formed between 1972 – 2000.
The above portrait of the priest from the cult of Isis with typical shaven head, bears a characteristic 'x' shaped scar on the forehead. For a similar example of a Roman portrait head of an Isis priest, from the 2nd Century A.D., cf. C. Vermeule, Greek and Roman Sculpture in America, California, 1981, p. 303, no. 259. from The Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College, Ohio, obj. no. 1902.1. Worship of the Egyptian goddess Isis became increasingly popular in Rome from the Ptolemaic Period onwards, and is attested to by the remains of temples dedicated to her throughout the Roman Empire.