Roman Marble Foot

South Arabian Calcite female figure 3rd Century BC to 1st century A.D. Calcite Alabaster height: 30.5 cm A magnificent alabaster female figure, a f...

Roman Marble Head of Sophocles Circa 1st-2nd Century Marble This fine Roman marble head preserves the proper left side of the face of a middle-aged man, with broad nose, soft lips, and bearded chin. The short beard and sideburns have been finely carved with a flat chisel, to render the soft, wavy strands of hair. The cheekbone, undereye, and nasolabial folds have been delicately modelled in the marble by a skilled hand. In a letter from 1975, the former director of Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen, suggested that the head could depict the Ancient Greek tragedian Sophocles. Few figures in the Classical world stand aside Sophocles (c. 496-406 BC), inarguably the best known of the Athenian tragedians, in terms of the impact his works have had on the history of art and literature. The psychological depth he achieves in the seven of the 123 of his plays that have survived to the present day - most notably the three Theban plays: Antigone, Oedipus the King, and Oedipus at Colonus - not only inspired the Athenians, among whom Sophocles was honoured as a hero long after his death, but in our own time, have provoked landmark works on phychoanalysis and literary criticism, by thinkers like René Girard and, most famously, Sigmund Freud. In its masterful treatment of the marble this fragment sensitively captures the features of one of the most important playwrights of all time. Height on stand: 7.9 inches (20 cm). Provenance: Collection of Danish sculptor Jens Adolf Jerichau...

Head of a Satyr Roman, circa 2nd - 3rd century AD Carved and highly polished marble An extremely fine marble head of a satyr, depicted with ivy wreath, curly hair and pointed goat’s ear, the full lips slightly parted to reveal the creature’s clenched teeth. The head was once part of a relief with visible fragmentation on the left side. Almost completely worked in the round and carefully polished, the skill of the sculptor is particularly remarkable given the confined working space available for a relief carving, such as this. The Roman Imperial Period marked the expansion of the political and cultural influence of the Roman Empire. The period began with the reign of Augustus in 27 BC, immediately following Caesar’s assassination which ultimately ended Rome’s time as a republic. Soon after, Augustus’ defeat of Anthony and...

Unclassified Meteorite Stone Height: 36.83 cm 42.5 kg A dramatic extraterrestrial sculpture, of monolithic form, covered in a thick grey-brown fusion crust and with areas of sandy deposits from untold years spent on the desert floor. Formed in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter during the formation of our solar system, some 4.55 billion years ago, this large stone would have been separated from its parent body by an enormous impact before journeying through interplanetary space and eventually reaching Earth. Upon atmospheric entry it would have reached cosmic velocity, heating the surrounding air to 1700°C and producing a large ball of fire. The heat was sufficient to melt the outer surface of the stone, exposing a new surface which in turn also melted away, losing as much as 95% of its initial mass before reaching the ground. The last molten layer to form as it collided with the Earth covered the stone in a layer of fusion crust, evidence of the incredible impact force delivered by this extraordinary specimen. “This unclassified stone meteorite was found in Northwest Africa. It has a relatively smooth, dark brown, slightly weathered fusion crust; some small melt veins are visible on the surface. Due to the near-absence of terrestrial rocks in this region of the Sahara, meteorite hunting in this area has yielded many notable discoveries.” Dr Alan E. Rubin, PhD Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences...

A statement patinated plaster academic study of an oversized foot, cast from a classical sculpture. French, c. 1890.

Sculpture of a foot in yellow Siena marble. The sculpture rests on a hinted ground. Replica of a classic type, the construction is excellent, from the proportions to the minimum atte...

A large C.1960s Spanish carved stone foot. Naively but beautifully well made.

A gorgeous Grand Tour style cast plaster sculpture of an Ancient Greek or Roman foot USA, Late 20th Century Measures: 6.25"W x 2.5"D x 2"H. Very good original vintage condition.