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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;DonnaML, post: 8124066, member: 110350&quot;]By pure coincidence (given [USER=75937]@Roman Collector[/USER]&#039;s new thread this morning about whether a marble head in the Archaeological Museum of Nikopolis is actually intended to represent Faustina II), my final antiquities purchase of 2021 -- I only bought a half-dozen in total, and this was the first since March -- arrived yesterday from the UK. It&#039;s a second century terracotta portrait bust of a Roman lady, originally acquired more than a century ago in Tunisia by a French colonial administrator. Both the dealer and I thought that the bust bears a facial resemblance to coin portraits of Faustina II. However, I thought that I would call upon the expertise of some of our members -- particularly [USER=75937]@Roman Collector[/USER] himself! -- and solicit their opinions on whether this bust might be Faustina II, or perhaps some other second century empress. Contrary to what one might assume, I have never taken any great interest in the details of women&#039;s hairstyles, either on coins or in real life!</p><p><br /></p><p>Here is my description of the bust, based on information provided by the dealer and my own independent research on the original owner:</p><p><br /></p><p>Very fine Roman molded pottery (terracotta) portrait bust of a lady with hair in horizontal waves and chignon, possibly Faustina II or another empress, mid- to late-2nd Century AD, acquired 1890-1920 in Sousse, Tunisia (formerly Hadrumetum, Roman Africa; location of Sousse Archaeological Museum, see <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sousse_Archaeological_Museum" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sousse_Archaeological_Museum" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sousse_Archaeological_Museum</a>). 16 cm. x 9.5 cm. Repaired on neck, light chipping, tip of nose missing, otherwise intact. Red/brown/ochre terracotta color with remaining traces of white indicating, according to dealer, that the surface &quot;received a second layer of fine-finishing during ancient production by applying a thin slip of white plaster/stucco which could be smoothed over the surface of the fired clay to conceal small firing cracks and so forth. The bust may then have been painted over with decoration or simply an even terracotta coloured wash, but this very rarely survives and so it&#039;s fairly impossible to ascertain&quot; intended color. <i>Purchased from Helios Gallery, Lower Kingsdown, Wiltshire, UK, Dec. 2021. Ex. Archaeology Auction 6 Mars, 2021, Lot 26, Hôtel des Ventes du Léman, Maître Albert Holtz, Thonon-les-Bains, Haute-Savoie, France; ex. Family Dumas Collection, Haute-Savoie, France; ex. Collection of Marius-Victor-Ernest Dumas (b. 1 Jun. 1865, Corps, Département de l&#039;Isère, France, d. after 1920), contrôleur civil à Sousse (Tunisie), ca. 1890-1920 [after Tunisia became a French protectorate in 1881], Chevalier du 12 avril 1903 (see MÉRITE AGRICOLE, Journal officiel de la république française, 22 octobre 1910, p. 8677.).</i></p><p><br /></p><p>Dealer&#039;s photos:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1414678[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1414673[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1414674[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1414676[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>My photos, from as many angles as possible:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1414682[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1414683[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1414684[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1414685[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1414686[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1414687[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>More photos to come in next post.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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