Live Auction 21930Ancient to Modern Art from the Mougins Museum of Classical Art, Part I
A ROMAN MARBLE PORTRAIT BUST OF A MAN
Lot 55

A ROMAN MARBLE PORTRAIT BUST OF A MAN

CIRCA LATE 1ST - EARLY 2ND CENTURY A.D.

Closed7 December 2023

Estimate

GBP 30,000–50,000

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A ROMAN MARBLE PORTRAIT BUST OF A MAN
CIRCA LATE 1ST - EARLY 2ND CENTURY A.D.
21 ¾ in. (55.2 cm.) high

Baron Léon de Somzée (1837-1901), Brussels, acquired by 1897.
Collections de Somzée, J. Fievez, Brussels, 24 May 1904, lot 60.
Private collection, U.K.
Antiquities, Christie's, London, 10 July 1991, lot 201.
Ambassador Edward Elliot Elson, Norfolk, Virginia, acquired from the above.
The Property of Ambassador Edward Elliot Elson; Antiquities, Christie's, New York, 4 June 2008, lot 257.
Acquired by the present owner from the above.

Specialist note


This portrait bears some resemblance to depictions of the Emperor Trajan. Note in particular the treatment of the mouth, with the receding lower lip, and the framing naso-labial folds. However, the hair is not typical for depictions of Trajan, who usually had long locks combed forward across the crown. Here, there are rows of short, curving locks, the forward row very low on the forehead. Similar hair is found on a portrait of the Emperor Nerva, Trajan's immediate predecessor, see pp. 30-31, no. 30 in Johansen, Katalog Romerske Portraetter II, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. It is possible that this portrait began as a depiction of Nerva, and was reworked during the reign of Trajan. The later restorations to the nose, chin, neck and crown make it impossible to know with certainty if Trajan was the intended subject or a private individual.