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Lot Essay
Augustus was the founder of the Roman Empire and its first Emperor, ruling from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD. Faustina was the daughter of Antoninus Pius and Faustina the Elder, as well as a great-niece to Hadrian. For a time she was engaged to Lucius Verus, however her father ended the engagement and then arranged her betrothal to her maternal cousin Marcus Aurelius. When Antoninus Pius died in March 161AD, her husband and Lucius Verus succeeded her father's throne and co-ruled the Empire. Contemporary literature was not kind to Faustina and represented her as a scurrilous personality recalling stories of her adulterous encounters with sailors and gladiators and going as far as to suggest that her son Commodus was the product of one such union.
The current busts were sold from the collection of the 9th Duke of Roxburghe (1913-1974) at Christie's London in 1956. They were formerly housed in 2 Carlton House Terrace, the London residence that the Duke and Duchess let from the Crown Estates from 1923 until the outbreak of the Second World War. King George IV had authorised the demolition of Carlton House and promoted John Nash to design grand terraced houses that could be sold on to the nobility, after he had moved into Buckingham Palace upon ascending to the throne. Sir Arthur Collins, nephew of the 8th Duke, recounts that ‘The Roxburghes used the house very much for the London Season only .. the big event was entertaining King George V and Queen Mary annually to dinner in Derby week' (2 Carlton House Terrace, loc. cit.).
The majority of the furnishings at 2 Carlton House Terrace were transported from Floors Castle, the ancestral home of the Roxburghe family in south-east Scotland, and it is likely that this is where the present busts were originally situated. With their large scale, homage to classical antiquity, and beautiful juxtaposition of rare marbles, onyx and alabastro fiorito, the busts were typical of the British aristocratic Grand Tour taste. The 3rd Duke of Roxburghe visited Italy in 1760, travelling south from Venice to Naples, via Florence and Rome. Like many of his fellow Grand Tourists, he amassed a superb art collection, including a large portrait by Pompeo Batoni (Scottish National Portrait Gallery, inv. no. 2940), as well as the greatest private library of his age which, when sold in 1812, inspired the formation of The Roxburghe Club, which still meets today to commemorate the collection and subsequent record-breaking sale.
The current busts were sold from the collection of the 9th Duke of Roxburghe (1913-1974) at Christie's London in 1956. They were formerly housed in 2 Carlton House Terrace, the London residence that the Duke and Duchess let from the Crown Estates from 1923 until the outbreak of the Second World War. King George IV had authorised the demolition of Carlton House and promoted John Nash to design grand terraced houses that could be sold on to the nobility, after he had moved into Buckingham Palace upon ascending to the throne. Sir Arthur Collins, nephew of the 8th Duke, recounts that ‘The Roxburghes used the house very much for the London Season only .. the big event was entertaining King George V and Queen Mary annually to dinner in Derby week' (2 Carlton House Terrace, loc. cit.).
The majority of the furnishings at 2 Carlton House Terrace were transported from Floors Castle, the ancestral home of the Roxburghe family in south-east Scotland, and it is likely that this is where the present busts were originally situated. With their large scale, homage to classical antiquity, and beautiful juxtaposition of rare marbles, onyx and alabastro fiorito, the busts were typical of the British aristocratic Grand Tour taste. The 3rd Duke of Roxburghe visited Italy in 1760, travelling south from Venice to Naples, via Florence and Rome. Like many of his fellow Grand Tourists, he amassed a superb art collection, including a large portrait by Pompeo Batoni (Scottish National Portrait Gallery, inv. no. 2940), as well as the greatest private library of his age which, when sold in 1812, inspired the formation of The Roxburghe Club, which still meets today to commemorate the collection and subsequent record-breaking sale.