Lot 133
133
A ROMAN MARBLE POTRAIT HEAD OF A BOY AS WORSHIPPER OF ISIS
A ROMAN MARBLE POTRAIT HEAD OF A BOY AS WORSHIPPER OF ISIS
A ROMAN MARBLE POTRAIT HEAD OF A BOY AS WORSHIPPER OF ISIS
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A ROMAN MARBLE POTRAIT HEAD OF A BOY AS WORSHIPPER OF ISIS

CIRCA EARLY 3RD CENTURY A.D.; MOUNTED ON AN 18TH CENTURY BUST

Details
A ROMAN MARBLE POTRAIT HEAD OF A BOY AS WORSHIPPER OF ISIS
CIRCA EARLY 3RD CENTURY A.D.; MOUNTED ON AN 18TH CENTURY BUST
The head 8 ¼ in. (20.5 cm. high); total height with bust 15 ½ in. (39.5 cm.) high
Provenance
North German private collection, 1970s and thence by descent.
Antiquities, Bonhams, London, 5 October 2011, lot 136.
Literature
W. Hornbostel, Kunst der Antike, Schätze aus norddeutschem Privatbesitz, Hamburg, 1977, pp. 55-56, no. 35.
Exhibited
Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg, 21 January-6 March 1977.

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Lot Essay

The Horus lock, or Sidelock of Youth, on the right side of the head signals that the boy was a devotee of the cult of Isis.
For another portrait head of a boy with short hair and sidelock, also dating to the 3rd century A.D. at Petworth House see Arachne Sculpture Database no. 1084685. For a discussion of the Horus lock in imperial iconography, see V. Gonzenbach, ‘Untersuchungen zu den Knabenweihen im Isiskult der römischen Kaiserzeit‘, in Antiquitas 1, Bonn, 1957, pp. 105-128.

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