Lot 43. Property from the Collection of late Diene and Douglas Cooper, Montego Bay, Jamaica. A Monumental Roman Marble Portrait Statue of a Woman, circa 2nd Century A.D. Estimate 150,000 — 250,000 GBP. Lot sold 260,750 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's.

standing with the weight on her left leg, and wearing a chiton and mantle wrapped around the upper body; head incl. neck, right hand, front of base and feet restored, left hand formerly restored, area between right and left wrists recarved. Total height 213 cm.; height without plinth 201 cm.

Provenance: European private collection, circa 18th Century (based on restoration techniques)
Douglas James Cooper (1931-1988) and Diene Cooper, born Pitcairn, El Cerro, Tamarind Hill, Montego Bay, Jamaica, installed in the house prior to its completion in 1968
acquired with the house by the current owners in 2009 and removed from the premises in 2016.

Literature: Ruth Seltzer, The Philadelphia Inquirer, August 4th, 1968, p. 73
Scott Straley, "Beauty: A Way of Life," The Morning News, Wilmington, Delaware, March 26th, 1971, p. 35, illus. (reversed)
Slim Aarons, A Wonderful Time: An Intimate Portrait of the Good Life, New York, 1974 (http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/event/slim-aarons-retrospective-57576281?#the-swimming-pool-at-the-jamaican-home-of-philadelphia-jeweller-picture-id52171077)

Note: The present statue belongs to a Hellenistic type known from several other copies (see H.J. Kruse, Römische weibliche Gewandstatuen des 2. Jhs. n. Chr., 1975, p. 455, note 285), to which should be added a statue in Barcelona: P. Vélez, ed., Fons del Museu Frederic Marès. Cataleg d'escultura, 2010, pp. 62ff., no. 4. The missing drapery fold connecting the right and left wrists is the only feature that sets it apart from the type. This feature was either omitted by the ancient sculptor or more likely removed in modern times by the restorer.

Another copy of the present type in the Palazzo Doria (photograph by J. Deterling)

Lot 41. Property from the Collection of late Diene and Douglas Cooper, Montego Bay, Jamaica. A Monumental Roman Marble Portrait Statue of a Woman, circa 2nd Century A.D. Estimate 150,000 — 250,000 GBP. Lot sold 296,750 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's.

standing with the weight on her left leg, wearing a chiton and stola, both high-girdled, and a mantle wrapped around the legs and draped over the left forearm; restored are the head incl. neck, left lower arm with adjoining drapery, feet, lower edge of drapery, and plinth, right arm formerly restored, upper and lower body possibly not belonging together. Total height 194 cm.; height without plinth 185 cm.

Provenance: Italian private collection, 18th Century (based on restoration techniques)
Stefano Bardini (1836-1922), Florence, late 19th/early 20th Century
Douglas James Cooper (1931-1988) and Diene Cooper, born Pitcairn, El Cerro, Tamarind Hill, Montego Bay, Jamaica, installed in the house prior to its completion in 1968
acquired with the house by the current owners in 2009 and removed from the premises in 2016.

 The present lot in Florence with Stefano Bardini, circa 1900 (Capecchi, op. cit.)

Literature: Gabriella Capecchi, L’archivio storico fotografico di Stefano Bardini. Arte greca, etrusca, romana, Florence, 1993, p. 38, pl. 94
The Philadelphia Inquirer, August 4th, 1968, p. 73
"Beauty: A Way of Life," The Morning News, Wilmington, Delaware, March 26th, 1971, p. 35, illus. 
"Roman Bacchanal in Montego Bay, Jamaica," The Philadelphia Inquirer, Sunday, March 10, 1974, p. 123
Slim Aarons, A Wonderful Time: An Intimate Portrait of the Good Life, New York, 1974, 
Axel Filges, Standbilder jugendlicher Göttinnen, Cologne, 1997, p. 163, note 643, no. 47

Note: The stola indicates that the present figure was designed for a portrait head; cf. two statues from Spain: P. León, ed., Arte romana de la Bética. Escultura, 2009, p. 258f., figs. 348 and 353. The 18th/19th-century head imitates portraits of the Claudian period; cf. G. Lahusen and E. Formigli, Römische Bildnisse aus Bronze, 2001, p. 134, no. 76.

Lot 44. Property from the Collection of late Diene and Douglas Cooper, Montego Bay, Jamaica. A Roman Marble Figure of Julia Mamaea, the Body circa 2nd Century A.D., the Portrait Head circa A.D. 222–235. Estimate 150,000 — 250,000 GBP. Lot sold 137,500 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's.

standing with the weight on her left leg, and wearing a chiton and mantle draped across the chest from her left shoulder and falling in long folds over her left arm, the head turned to her right; neck, nose, mouth, parts of diadem and hair, shoulders and upper back, area around both knees, feet, and plinth restored. Total height 190 cm.; height without plinth 180 cm.

Provenance: Italian private collection, circa 18th Century (based on restoration techniques)
Stefano Bardini, Florence, late 19th/early 20th Century
Douglas James Cooper (1931-1988) and Diene Cooper, born Pitcairn, El Cerro, Tamarind Hill, Montego Bay, Jamaica, installed in the house prior to its completion in 1968
acquired with the house by the current owners in 2009 and removed from the premises in 2016.

The present lot in Florence with Stefano Bardini circa 1900 (Capecchi, op. cit., pl. 97)

Literature: The Philadelphia Inquirer, August 4th, 1968, p. 73
Gabriella Capecchi, L’archivio storico fotografico di Stefano Bardini. Arte greca, etrusca, romana, Florence, 1993, p. 39, pl. 97f.
Axel Filges, Standbilder jugendlicher Göttinnen, Cologne, 1997, p. 269, no. 129, illus.

Note: Related statues have been compiled and discussed by Filges (op. cit.), pp. 84ff. Julia Mamaea was the mother of and close advisor to emperor Alexander Severus (reigned A.D. 222-235). For the portrait type see K. Fittschen and P. Zanker, Katalog der römischen Porträts in den Capitolinischen Museen, vol. 3, 1983, pp. 30ff., no. 33. Other portraits of Julia Mamaea were sold at Sotheby’s, London, July 10th, 1990, no. 275 (now in a German private coll.: A. Mlasowsky, Imagines imperii, 2006, p. 119f., no. 28, pl. 39f.), and at Sotheby’s, New York, December 7th, 2005, no. 61.

A Roman Imperial Marble Portrait Bust of a Man, 2nd half of the 2nd Century A.D.

The auction will be led by an exceptionally well-preserved and powerful portrait Roman bust of the mid to late 2nd Century A.D., with an estimate of £300,000-500,000. Carved out of a single piece of marble, this depiction of a high ranking military officer is virtually intact and provides a glimpse into Roman personalities through their portraiture. The rarity of the bust lies in the fact that the head belongs to the same piece of marble as the base, along with the condition of the surface, which was not, as was often the case, over-cleaned and retains most of its original polish. Acquired in 1965 by the Denver Museum of Art, it is now being sold to benefit the Museum’s acquisition fund. 

The aesthetic achievements of ancient Rome stand as a great milestone in the history of art, and it is in the area of portraiture that Roman sculpture really comes to the fore and differentiates itself from other artistic traditions. This period’s inclination towards realism and accurate descriptions were crucial in the development of realist portraiture. Viewed now as works of art, the Romans would have commissioned such portrait busts as objects of commemoration. For private individuals, these were displayed in the home or in a funerary context whilst for public figures, such as emperors, generals, and statesmen, they would have been erected in public places. Moreover, Romans believed that a person’s individuality was inherent wholly in their facial features. Thus, the artistic realism was often employed to express socially approved values – qualities of selfless duty to the state, sober morality, military bravery and public responsibility. In this case, a determined turn of the head betrays the strong character of the subject. This bust also displays another innovation in the rendering of the eyes, as previously, pupil and iris had only been painted on to the sculpture but now these also came to be sculpted. 

It was the convention to imitate the hairstyle of the current emperor, and this portrait finds its closest parallels in those of Antonius Pius – one of political philosopher Machiavelli’s "Five Good Emperors". Distinguished by the cape (paludamentum) worn over his shoulder, it is most likely that he was a member of the elite senatorial or equestrian class – the military reference thus indicating his social class. 

Lot 51. A Marble Portrait Bust of a Man, Roman Imperial, Early Antonine, mid 2nd Century A.D. Estimate 300,000 — 500,000 GBP. Lot sold 728,750 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's.

his head turned to his left, and wearing a military cloak (paludamentum) fastened with a domed brooch in the form of a rosette, his face with short beard, straight nose, eyes with incised irises and drilled pupils, and furrowed brow, the hair radiating from the crown in exuberantly asymmetrical curls massing above the ears, one curled lock falling over the forehead, the entire bust and its pedestal carved in one piece; tip of nose incl. left nostril restored in marble, tip of beard in painted plaster. Total height 76.5 cm.; height without socle 56.5 cm.

Provenance: Rome art market, 1960 or earlier
Adolph Loewi, Inc., Los Angeles, acquired in Rome prior to 1961
acquired from the above by the Museum in 1965 (inv. no. 1965.22)

Exhibited:  "Roman Portraits: A Loan Exhibition of Roman Sculpture and Coins from the First Century B.C. through the Fourth Century A.D.," Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, Mass., April 6th - May 14th, 1961
"I, Claudia. Women in Ancient Rome," Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn., September 6th-December 1st, 1996, San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio, Tex., January 3rd-March 9th, 1997, and North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, N.C., April 6th-June 15th, 1997

Literature: RECORDED
three photographs accessioned in 1960, Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Rome, neg. nos. 60.2432–34, labeled "Rom, Kunsthandel" (http://arachne.uni-koeln.de/item/marbilderbestand/1059733, http://arachne.uni-koeln.de/item/marbilderbestand/1059734, http://arachne.uni-koeln.de/item/marbilderbestand/1059735)
five photographs by G. Fittschen-Badura (http://arachne.uni-koeln.de/item/objekt/5133)

PUBLISHED
Michael Milkovich, Roman Portraits, exh. cat., Worcester Art Museum, 1961, p. 46f., no. 19, illus.
Ancient Mediterranean Art. The Denver Art Museum Collection, Denver, 1968, p. 52, no. 58, illus.
Cornelius C. Vermeule, Greek and Roman Sculpture in America, Malibu, 1981, p. 340, no. 293, illus.
Klaus Fittschen, "The Bronze Bust of the 'Young Marcus Aurelius' by Antico and Its Antique Model,“ The J. Paul Getty Museum Journal, vol. 18, 1990, p. 123, note 47
Susan B. Matheson, in Diana E. Kleiner and Susan B. Matheson, eds., I, Claudia. Women in Ancient Rome, exh. cat., Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, 1996, p. 140, no. 72, illus.
Barbara Borg, et al., Die antiken Skulpturen in Castle Howard, Wiesbaden, 2005, p. 87, note 8
Klaus Fittschen, et al., Katalog der römischen Porträts in den Capitolinischen Museen, vol. 2, Berlin, 2­010, p. 111, note 1a

Note: According to Susan Matheson (op. cit., p. 140), “This portrait represents a Roman military officer, distinguished by the cape (paludamentum) he wears over his shoulder. He was probably not a professional soldier, however, but rather a member of the elite senatorial or equestrian class whose command during a specific military campaign would provide the opportunity for political advancement or financial gain. The military reference is thus an indicator of the man’s social class. The portrait depicts a man of middle age. At this stage of his life, it is likely that he would be married and have children.  Unless his father was still alive, he would be the head of the household, a position of nearly absolute power in theory, but one subject to negotiation, persuasion and compromise in practice.  While he was away on military campaign, his wife would assume full command of both the household and the family business.”

Further Highlights

A Roman Marble Head of Sarapis, late 2nd Century A.D. (est. £60,000-80,000)

This object was formerly in the collection of Louis de Clercq, a French industrialist and politician passionate about archaeology and photography in the 19th century who amassed a remarkable collection – the lion’s share of which is housed at the Musée du Louvre.
Sarapis figured among the international deities whose cult was received and disseminated throughout the Roman Empire. A Graeco-Egyptian god, he was endorsed during the 3rd century B.C. on the orders of Ptolemy I of Egypt as a means to unify the Greeks and Egyptians in his realm. He was depicted as Greek in appearance but with Egyptian trappings, signifying both abundance and resurrection. The Roman cults of Serapis gained in popularity when Vespasian experienced events he attributed to his miraculous agency while he was in Alexandria, where he stayed before returning to Rome as emperor in 70 A.D. 

Lot 26. A Roman Marble Head of Sarapis, late 2nd Century A.D. Estimate 60,000 — 80,000 GBP. Lot sold 106,250 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's.

with full beard and moustache, parted lips, and long deeply-drilled hair bound in a diadem, falling in multiple strands over the forehead, and flowing in long wavy locks down to his shoulders, the top of the head prepared for addition of the modius, the back roughly worked, traces of red pigment over the beard and hair; no restorations. Height 33 cm.