A Roman Marble Bust of an Emperor, circa 138-180 A.D.

VAT reduced rateUK: Greenford Park Warehouse

Auction Closed

December 5, 03:41 PM GMT

Estimate

70,000 - 100,000 GBP

Lot Details

Description

the neck carved out for insertion of an over-lifesize portrait head, probably of an Antonine Emperor, wearing a tunic, cuirass with fragmentary lappets covering the shoulder, and paludamentum with fringed hem fastened with a circular brooch and falling over the left shoulder and chest, the shoulder strap secured to the cuirass with a cord tied into a knot, carved in one piece with the plinth and circular socle.

Height 65 cm.

Natalia Timofejeff, Beverly Hills, California, acquired by 1979

Bonhams, London, October 6th, 2010, no. 162, illus.

acquired by the present owner at the above sale

The fringed hem of the paludamentum was introduced in the Antonine age, cf. a bust of the young Marcus Aurelius in Florence (K. Fittschen, Prinzenbildnisse antoninischer Zeit, 1999, p. 23, no. B6, pl. 31a-b; arachne.dainst.org/entity/1095786), and a bust of the older Marcus Aurelius in Rome (K. Fittschen and P. Zanker, Katalog der römischen Porträts in den Capitolinischen Museen, vol. 1, 1985, p. 76f., no. 69, pl. 79; arachne.dainst.org/entity/1075885).

The supreme ruler appears here in campaign garb in his quality of imperator, or military field commander. The uniformity of the marble surface belies the variety and richness of materials used in the actual accoutrements: linen or wool for the tunic, white or purple-dyed fabric with gold thread for the paludamentum, burnished bronze for the cuirass, silver for the brooch and the inlaid details of the cuirass such as the nipples, and leather for the lappets and thong.

Published

Chaucer Fine Arts Inc., Rome. A Vision of Antiquity. Pictures and Drawings. Classical Sculpture, catalogue of the exhibition held at the Gallery, 45 Pimlico Road, June 12th to July 18th, 1980, London, Summer 1980, no. 54, illus. (entry by Dr. Geoffrey B. Waywell)

Sotheby's, New York, June 6th, 2006, no. 56, illus.