EDINBURGH, UK – Three larger-than-life-size Roman portrait busts with an 18th-century provenance linked to Cobham Hall in Kent, England will appear at Lyon & Turnbull this month. They form part of the firm’s first designated sale of Classical Ancient Art on Thursday, March 21.
The trio of massive second century heads come by descent from John Bligh, 4th Earl of Darnley (1767-1831), the Lord of the Manor of Cobham. A noted amateur cricketer who made at least 27 appearances in first-class cricket matches between 1789 and 1796, he employed the architect James Wyatt to remodel the interiors at Cobham Hall. The sculptures, each now placed on a 19th-century stand, remained in situ until the house changed hands in 1957. They were part of a sale held by Sotheby’s in London in July 1957.
In chronological order, and leading the group at £25,000-£35,000 ($31,990-$44,785), is a 3ft 3in (97cm) bust of Pompeia Plotina circa 110-120 AD. Born around 70 AD, she assumed the role of empress consort when Trajan rose through the ranks of the Roman military to become emperor in 98 AD. Although she eschewed many of the trappings of power and luxury often associated with imperial life, she is shown here as an idealized beauty with an elaborate coiffure and corkscrew fringe, and a palla draped over the back of her head and over her shoulders.
Trajan was conservative in nature, and Trajanic portrait sculpture was idealized to accentuate Roman virtues. With changing artistic sensibilities and philosophical trends, far more naturalism emerged during the reign of his successor, Hadrian. This is observed in a sensitively rendered bust of an older aristocratic lady of the middle Hadrianic period, circa 125-130 AD. The bust portrait is estimated at £20,000-£30,000 ($25,590-$38,385).
In 138 AD Antoninus Pius would succeed Hadrian as emperor, and his wife Faustina the Elder was granted the title of Augusta by the Senate. A highly idealized and rejuvenated image of the empress in the guise of the goddess Hera, dated to around 135-140 AD, is estimated at £25,000-£35,000 ($31,990-$44,785).
Numbering a select 16 lots, the inaugural Classical Ancient Art auction at Lyon & Turnbull features a range of ancient works of art and sculpture from several private collections. Two exceptional Apulian volute kraters (here and here) dating to circa 340 BC have been in a U.K. family collection since the first half of the 20th century. They carry estimates of £40,000-£60,000 each ($51,185-$76,775).
Decorated with mythological narratives and scenes from domestic life in the Ornate Style, in the words of Arthur Dale Trendall, co-author of the 1991 book The Red-Figured Vases of Apulia, they feature “perhaps the most elaborate naiskos scenes from the entirety of ancient Apulian pottery”. They are among the finest surviving work by an artist known as the White Saccos Painter, who worked in one of the Greek colonies in Southern Italy, probably at Canosa, in the late 300s BC. His or her innovative technique involved applying white slip to the ceramic surface before painting.
