14. Roman head of a frowning man, Smyrna, 1st century AD
Terracotta
Height: 3cm
11924
£ 1,200
Further images
Head of a bald man of 'grotesque' character, his features are exaggerated to show deeply furrowed brow, plump lips, a snub nose, small round eyes, large ears and wrinkles to...
Head of a bald man of 'grotesque' character, his features are exaggerated to show deeply furrowed brow, plump lips, a snub nose, small round eyes, large ears and wrinkles to his forehead. Mould-made and finished by hand. Broken at the neck and along what was the vertical join, the back of the head missing.
Provenance
Louis-Gabriel Bellon (1819-1899), St. Nicholas-les-Arras, FranceJack-Philippe Ruellan, Maison de Ventes aux Enchères, Les antiques de Louis-Gabriel Bellon, 4th April 2009, lot 309
Charles Ede Ltd, London, UK; acquired from the above (stock number 8606)
Andrew Laventure; acquired from the above 20th November 2013
Bellon was a keen supporter of the arts throughout his life. He numbered among his friends artists such as Dutilleux, Carot and Daguerre. In the 1850s he carried out regular excavations in Saint-Nicolas-les-Arras of the Gallo-Roman and Merovingian necropoleis. He developed a particular passion for Tanagra figurines and amassed a large collection, the biggest in France. Part of it featured in a famous exhibition in the Trocadero in 1878 and again in Rouen in 1884.
