AN EGYPTIAN LIMESTONE PORTRAIT HEAD OF A PTOLEMY

PTOLEMAIC PERIOD, CIRCA 3RD CENTURY B.C.

Details

AN EGYPTIAN LIMESTONE PORTRAIT HEAD OF A PTOLEMY
PTOLEMAIC PERIOD, CIRCA 3RD CENTURY B.C.
Depicted with idealizing features including crisply bordered almond-shaped eyes, a triangular nose and rounded chin, the fleshy lips drawn into a smile, the ears prominent, preserving the frontlets of an undeterminable crown, patches of gypsum adhesive on the top and back
10¾ in. (27.3 cm.) high

Provenance

Acquired in the 1960s.
Monsieur Francois Antonovich; Christie's, London, 5 October 2000, lot 102.

Literature

C.-G. Schwentzel, Images d'Alexandre et des Ptolémées, Paris, 1999, no. 64.

Lot Essay

Heads of this type have often been called "sculptor's models," and they have also variously been considered ex votos. The thick gypsum on the top and back of this head (toolmarks of the artisan's blade is evident in the gypsum) suggests that this was set into a composite statue. For a close parallel with a similarly-pitted surface, thought to depict Ptolemy II and now in the Musée Rodin, Paris, see no. 128, p. 177 in Charron, et al., La Gloire d'Alexandrie.

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