A SOUTH ARABIAN ALABASTER HEAD OF A MAN

CIRCA 1ST CENTURY B.C.-1ST CENTURY A.D.

Details

A SOUTH ARABIAN ALABASTER HEAD OF A MAN
CIRCA 1ST CENTURY B.C.-1ST CENTURY A.D.
With a long tapering neck and a thin oval face, the brows recessed, his large eyes inlaid with contrasting white stone, the pupils once further inlaid, with a long, thin triangular nose, the protruding lips pursed into a slight smile, his beard, mustache and hair of the brows indicated by thin incisions, the top and back of the head roughly finished, with traces of plaster throughout indicating that it was likely once set into a stele
8 in. (20.3 cm.) high

Provenance

Private Collection, France, 1974.

Brought to you by

G. Max Bernheimer

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Lot Essay

Alabaster heads from this region, unfinished on the top and back, were once fitted with plaster and set into a rectangular niche high up on an inscribed limestone stele. For complete examples see nos. 277-278 in Simpson, Queen of Sheba, Treasures from Ancient Yemen.

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