Sold for $176,400

Aesthetically evocative, this striking female head remains unfinished, with the rough point and chisel only hinting at the personality within. The woman’s hair is parted in the center, with locks brushed over her ears into what would have been a low chignon. This sweeping arrangement of the hair creates a triangular brow demarcated by swells for the eyebrows and slight depressions beneath for expressive eyes. From coquettish to delightfully demure, a slight smile is visible and hints at the variety of personae the finished product might have taken.

The head turns strongly to the right and below the neck terminates in a slim rectangular bust, certainly intended for insertion into a full-length body. In the Hellenistic period, honorific statues of civically important women began populating Greek and Roman public spaces, and this unfinished visage was likely intended for such a context. The sides and bottom of the bust are finished more finely than the face itself, perhaps indicating that its insertion into the body would have taken place before the final finishing of her visage, neck, and integration with the surrounding décolletage and garment.

The crystalline structure at a small break at the rear seems to indicate that Greek island marble was used. A slight flattening at the nose and lips might be the reason the face was never finished and used as intended.