Portrait Bust of a Man
Roman, Republican Period.,
Ca. 1st Century A.D. or later,

Marble, Height: 16 inches.

This superb portrait head is in carved in highest Republican Roman style, and has its closest parallel in a famous head in the Uffizi Museum which was acquired in 1726 and identified as being of Marcus Tulius Cicero. The turned socle base here is inscribed with MTC for his initials. While many copies of the Uffizi bust were made in the 18th and 19th Centuries, when looking at this head, one concludes it is ancient, the style and carving are perfectly of that time, the surface, damages and wear, all support an ancient date.  There is a tiny restored damage to the left ear, and odd iron pin set in oxidized lead near the shoulder, which caused a chip of marble to burst off when the corroding iron expanded, both more likely in an ancient original than later copy. I had the head examined scientifically, to look at the surface to see wether there was an attempt to fake an appearance of burial encrustation, and nothing was found to contra-indicate its antiquity, the surface dirt is dirt, not paint or pigment. ( The report is available for anyone interested.)

View from side to show typical Republican hair style.