A VEINED RED STONE HEAD OF A LION

Details

A VEINED RED STONE HEAD OF A LION
LATE PTOLEMAIC/EARLY ROMAN PERIOD, CIRCA 2ND CENTURY B.C-2ND CENTURY A.D.
The detailed face with rimmed eyes and incised whiskers, the long curving locks of the mane forming a crescent along the neck
4 3/4in. (12.1) high

Provenance

James William McChesney, New York

Lot Essay

The break at the back suggests that the piece was sculpted in the round. The style is similar to examples in Dresdon and Rome, all of which are a varient of a Dynasty XXX type inscribed for Nectanebo I, now in the Vatican. For the Dresden lions, see p. 130 in Roullet, The Egyptian and Egyptianizing Monuments of Imperial Rome.