A ROMAN BRONZE PORTRAIT HEAD OF A MAN, HADRIANIC, CIRCA EARLY 2ND CENTURY A.D.

A ROMAN BRONZE PORTRAIT HEAD OF A MAN, HADRIANIC, CIRCA EARLY 2ND CENTURY A.D.

from a life-size figure, with layered wavy beard and long moustache, finely shaped mouth, aquiline nose with flaring nostrils, large wide-set eyes with incised irises and dotted pupils, and thick deeply grooved eyebrows, his incised hair radiating from the crown in incised wavy locks, and framing the forehead in luxuriant overlapping wavy curls.
height 28 cm.

Condition Report:
To request a condition report for this lot, please contact ancientsculpture@sothebys.com.

Provenance:
Robin Symes, Ltd., London, late 1970s

Swiss private collection, as of 1982

Robin Symes, Ltd., London

Clarence Day, Memphis, Tennessee, acquired from the above on October 2nd, 1991 (Sotheby's, New York, June 8th, 2011, no. 51, illus.)

Published

Hans Jucker and Dietrich Willers, eds., Gesichter. Griechische und römische Bildnisse aus Schweizer Besitz, exh. cat., Bern, 1982, p. 133f., no. 54, illus.

Ernst Künzl, "Silberimagines," Hefte des archäologischen Seminars der Universität Bern, p. 46, pl. 11

Götz Lahusen and Edilberto Formigli, Römische Bildnisse aus Bronze: Kunst und Technik, Munich, 2001, p. 210f., no. 126, figs. 126,1-4

Stephan Lehmann, ed., Authentizität und Originalität antiker Bronzebildnisse, Dresden, 2015, p. 228f., no. 20, illus. (reviewed by Carol Mattusch, American Journal of Archaeology, vol. 120, no. 2, April 2017: https://www.ajaonline.org/book-review/3435, and by Sasha Kansteiner: https://www.hsozkult.de/publicationreview/id/reb-23701)

Deutsche Welle documentary, February 9th, 2002: https://m.dw.com/en/the-mystery-conman-the-murky-business-of-counterfeit-antiques/a-18993893 (3:08-3:15), starring Stephan Lehmann

Anonymous blog, "El Maestro Español," March 12th, 2017: http://laescaleradeiakob.blogspot.com/2017/03/el-maestro-espanol.html