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A Greek Marble Portrait Head of Ptolemy III
Height 7 3/4 inches.
Estimate: $30,000-$50,000
Sold
$30,000
Live Auction
Antiquities & Ancient Art
Size
Height 7 3/4 inches.
Description
A Greek Marble Portrait Head of Ptolemy III
Circa 280-222 B.C.
Height 7 3/4 inches.
Property from a Midwest Private Collection
Condition
Intact as preserved. Restoration to the bridge and tip of the nose, and parts of the lips. Spots of beige surface patina around the forehead, eyes, mouth, and neck. Weathering is typical of the age. Evidence of keying to the back of the head, perhaps pieced together in antiquity, the back of the head now lost. Break at the bottom is uneven with a hole in the middle of the neck drilled for a metal dowel now affixed to a rectangular stone base. Fine, stable and attractive condition overall. Height with stand 13 1/2 inches.
Provenance
Provenance:
Royal Athena Galleries, New York, December 2005.
Note:
Ptolemy III Euergetes was born in approximately 280 B.C., and succeeded his father, Ptolemy II Philadelphus, in 246 B.C. as the third pharaoh of Egypt during the Ptolemaic dynasty. The Ptolemaic Kingdom reached the height of its power during his reign after he reunited Egypt and Cyrenaica, and waged a third war against the Seleucid Kingdom in Syria.
Attribution confirmed by Dr. Rudolf Känel, University of Basel. For similar portrait heads of Ptolemy III, see: H. Kyrieleis, Bildnisse Der Ptolemäer, Mann 1975, no. C3, pl. 20 & no. C9, pl. 24. Also, see: S. Walker et al., Cleopatra of Egypt, London 2001, no. 10.