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Lot Essay
The woman’s oval face is sculpted with large, almond-shaped, lidded eyes beneath gently arching brows that merge with the bridge of the nose. The lips of her small mouth are slightly parted. Her center parted, wavy hair is bound in a fillet, with strands pulled back above the ears. The lobes are perforated likely to accommodate now-missing gold earrings. Her head is turned slightly to her left on a slender neck, with the bust finished for insertion into a separately made draped body.
The style of this head, especially the treatment of the large eyes, recalls both private and royal portraiture of the Ptolemaic period (for a portrait of a young man with similar physiognomy, see no. 3 in K. Savvopoulos and R.S. Bianchi, Alexandrian Sculpture in the Graeco-Roman Museum; for another related portrait of an unidentified woman, see the example in the Alexandria National Museum, p. 183 in H. Kyrieleis, Bildnisse der Ptolemäer).
Another characteristic of Alexandrian marble sculpture was the use of adjunct materials in order to complete a statue. Since Egypt possessed no marble quarries, sculptors were always creative in terms of maximizing their results with this expensive, imported stone. This is evident at the back of the present head, which was only summarily sculpted, likely for completion in stucco or plaster. Additionally, there are iron tangs preserved within a recess at the top of the hair, indicating that this area was completed in a separate piece of marble that was pinned in place.
The style of this head, especially the treatment of the large eyes, recalls both private and royal portraiture of the Ptolemaic period (for a portrait of a young man with similar physiognomy, see no. 3 in K. Savvopoulos and R.S. Bianchi, Alexandrian Sculpture in the Graeco-Roman Museum; for another related portrait of an unidentified woman, see the example in the Alexandria National Museum, p. 183 in H. Kyrieleis, Bildnisse der Ptolemäer).
Another characteristic of Alexandrian marble sculpture was the use of adjunct materials in order to complete a statue. Since Egypt possessed no marble quarries, sculptors were always creative in terms of maximizing their results with this expensive, imported stone. This is evident at the back of the present head, which was only summarily sculpted, likely for completion in stucco or plaster. Additionally, there are iron tangs preserved within a recess at the top of the hair, indicating that this area was completed in a separate piece of marble that was pinned in place.