PTOLEMAIC PERIOD, LATE 3RD-EARLY 2ND CENTURY B.C.

Details

AN EGYPTIAN ALABASTER HEAD OF A PTOLEMY
PTOLEMAIC PERIOD, LATE 3RD-EARLY 2ND CENTURY B.C.
Possibly depicting Ptolemy V Epiphanes, his youthful face with a pronounced brow, almond-shaped eyes, small lips and a pointed chin, with a fillet tied around his curly locks, bound in a tyet-knot at the back, a side-lock protruding behind his right ear, a circular mortise above for attachment of a now-missing crown
3 in. (7.6 cm.) high

Provenance

with Elias S. David (1891-1969), New York; thence by descent.

Special notice

This lot is offered without reserve.

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Lot Essay

The head presented here most likely depicts Ptolemy V Epiphanes (reign circa 205-180 B.C.), the commissioner of the Rosetta Stone. The mortise at the top of the head likely was designed to accommodate a double crown, as seen in other examples (see R.S. Bianchi et al., nos. 55 and 56, in Cleopatra's Egypt, Age of the Ptolemies).

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