ROMAN LIFESIZE MARBLE PORTRAIT BUST OF A PATRICIAN WOMAN
MID 3RD CENTURY A.D.
Estimate: £30,000 - £50,000
Auction: 13 March 2025 from 13:00 GMT
Description
carved marble, depicting a matronly woman of the patrician class, an angular face with pronounced cheekbones and a wrinkled forehead, a finely curved and closed mouth, the eyes gazing attentively beneath heavy lids with engraved irises and pupils, the hair parted at the centre and styled in thick curls drawn back behind prominent ears, forming a roll at the nape of the neck and transitioning into a flat, braided tail at the crown, characteristic of the mid-3rd century
Dimensions
76cm high
Provenance
French private collection, 18th century, accompanied by a French antiquities passport
Footnote
The present piece is characterised by a distinctive hairstyle that was fashionable among aristocratic women in the mid-3rd century A.D.. This style is most closely associated with the empresses Furia Sabinia Tranquillina, wife of Gordian III, and Otacilia Severa, wife of Philippus Arabs, both of whom popularised it during their reigns. The prominence of this coiffure during their time provides a strong basis for securely dating the ancient marble head to the middle of the 3rd century A.D.
The head is mounted on an 18th-century bust bearing an inscription reading "Iulia Maesa" (died 224/225 A.D. in Rome). While this reflects an earlier attribution, stylistic analysis indicates the head belongs to a slightly later period.