A Roman Marble Portrait Head of a Boy, circa 2nd half of the 1st Century A.D.
Lot Closed
December 17, 04:06 PM GMT
Estimate
35,000 - 45,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
A Roman Marble Portrait Head of a Boy
circa 2nd half of the 1st Century A.D.
from a draped bust, turned to his left, his ribbed wavy hair falling straight over the the back of head and in long corkscrew curls over the shoulders and nape of neck; curls above forehead restored.
Height from modern base 22.9 cm.
Baron Maximilian von Heyl (1844-1925), Darmstadt
Hugo Helbing, Munich, Katalog der Sammlung Baron Heyl, Darmstadt. Vol. II: Sammlung antiker Kunst, Darmstadt, October 30th, 1930, no. 23
probably Dr. Arthur Rosin (1879-1974), Berlin and New York
Leopold Gutmann (1891-1970), Noerdlingen and New York, probably received as a gift from the above, his father-in-law; brought to New York from Germany in 1937 as part of his art collection
Leonard Sussman (1920-2015), New York and Craftsbury, Vermont, received as a gift from the above, his father-in-law
American private collection, by descent (Sotheby's, New York, June 3rd, 2015, no. 48, illus.)
Hugo Helbing, Munich, Katalog der Sammlung Baron Heyl, Darmstadt. Vol. II: Sammlung antiker Kunst, Darmstadt, October 30th, 1930, no. 23
probably Dr. Arthur Rosin (1879-1974), Berlin and New York
Leopold Gutmann (1891-1970), Noerdlingen and New York, probably received as a gift from the above, his father-in-law; brought to New York from Germany in 1937 as part of his art collection
Leonard Sussman (1920-2015), New York and Craftsbury, Vermont, received as a gift from the above, his father-in-law
American private collection, by descent (Sotheby's, New York, June 3rd, 2015, no. 48, illus.)
Paul Arndt, Georg Lippold, eds., Photographische Einzelaufnahmen antiker Sculpturen, series XIII, Munich, 1932, nos. 3744-6, illus.
Petra Cain, Männerbildnisse neronisch-flavischer Zeit, Munich, 1993, p. 252f., no. 132
Friederike Fless, Opferdiener und Kultmusiker auf stadtrömischen historischen Reliefs, Mainz, 1995, p. 67, pl. 30
John Pollini, "The Warren Cup: Homoerotic Love and Symposial Rhetoric in Silver," The Art Bulletin, vol. 81, 1999, p. 34, fig. 19f.
John Pollini, "Two Bronze Portrait Busts of Slave Boys from a Shrine of Cobannus in Gaul," in: Studia Varia from the J. Paul Getty Museum, vol. 2, Los Angeles, 2001, p. 139
John Pollini, Gallo-Roman Bronzes and the Process of Romanization. The Cobannus Hoard, Leiden, 2002, p. 61, fig. 114f.
Klaus Fittschen, Paul Zanker, Katalog der römischen Porträts in den Capitolinischen Museen, vol. 4, Berlin, 2014, p. 44f., note 9n.
Petra Cain, Männerbildnisse neronisch-flavischer Zeit, Munich, 1993, p. 252f., no. 132
Friederike Fless, Opferdiener und Kultmusiker auf stadtrömischen historischen Reliefs, Mainz, 1995, p. 67, pl. 30
John Pollini, "The Warren Cup: Homoerotic Love and Symposial Rhetoric in Silver," The Art Bulletin, vol. 81, 1999, p. 34, fig. 19f.
John Pollini, "Two Bronze Portrait Busts of Slave Boys from a Shrine of Cobannus in Gaul," in: Studia Varia from the J. Paul Getty Museum, vol. 2, Los Angeles, 2001, p. 139
John Pollini, Gallo-Roman Bronzes and the Process of Romanization. The Cobannus Hoard, Leiden, 2002, p. 61, fig. 114f.
Klaus Fittschen, Paul Zanker, Katalog der römischen Porträts in den Capitolinischen Museen, vol. 4, Berlin, 2014, p. 44f., note 9n.
The present head belongs to a small group of portraits of young boys whom wealthy Romans would have used as slaves for religious practices and/or entertainment purposes. For closely related portraits, in Florence and New York, see Fless cit., pls. 31ff.