The bust of a woman is worked almost in the round and emerges from a circular plaque. Her head is turned distinctly to the left. The eyes are framed by pronounced lids. The upper lids almost touch the slightly bulging brows. Viewed in profile, the low forehead and long bridge of the nose form a straight line. The contour of the broad neck echoes the outline of the face. Both the neck, that forms a slightly convex curve in profile view, as well as the heavy, slightly sagging, almost double chin, suggest a degree of corpulence. These features may indicate an individualized portrait. The wavy hair is parted in the middle, twisted together at the sides and tucked though a band. On the right side, the back sections of hair cascade onto the shoulder. Broad neck. The bust is left plain. If not a portrait, the head is most probably a depiction of Aphrodite, especially given the coiffure. The entire surface is covered with a fine, delicate beige glaze. Rim slightly worn. Glaze partially abraded.
PROVENANCE
Formerly English priv. coll., formed 1965-2018.
NOTE
Many examples of cameo portraits with the bust emerging frontally from the relief ground (and with a slight turn of the head) dating from the Augustan Period onwards are known, cf. W.-R. Megow, Kameen von Augustus bis Alexander Severus (Berlin 1987) 186f, A 63, pl. 14, 11; 288f., D 2-3, pl. 7,13. 15; 294 f, D 20-21, pl. 7, 17-18. However, hardly any examples are known from the Hellenistic Period. In his preface, Megow mentions that although the majority of Hellenistic cameos are now lost, "numerous iconographic elements of early imperial cameo depictions are unquestionably taken from Hellenistic models". A sardonyx cameo, formerly from the Fürstenberg Collection, Donauseschingen, with the portrait bust of a woman, is similar in composition to our piece, cf. M.-L. Vollenweider, Deliciae Leonis. Antike geschnittene Steine und Ringe aus einer Privatsammlung (Mainz 1984) 155, no. 264 with illus. Vollenweider identifies the figure as a Ptolemaic ruler and dates the piece to the 2nd half of the 2nd cent. B.C.-early 1st cent. B.C.; cf. also a garnet cameo in a private collection, see F. Knauß, Antike unter der Lupe, Meisterwerke antiker Steinschneidekunst aus Privatbesitz (Munich 2024) 84, no. 70. The style and physiognomic details of our portrait can be compared with those on Ptolemaic jugs depicting various Ptolemaic queens, and more rarely kings, in relief, although the portraits on the jugs were made using moulds whereas our cameo was carved; cf. the fragment of a Ptolemaic jug in The Walters Art Museum, inv. no. 48. 309 (online). Similar features include the eyes that are emphasised by the pronounced shadows cast on them and the broad lids framing them, the sharp-edged brows, which merge almost at right angles into the long, narrow bridge of the nose, the small, narrow but full-lipped mouth, the small protruding chin, the elongated facial shape, the fullness of the lower half of the face in profile, which is termed trophe in connection with Hellenistic portraits of rulers, and the relatively broad neck. The bust, which shows no indication of a garment and is thus possibly intended to suggest nudity, could on the other hand speak in favour of the depiction of the goddess Aphrodite.