Lot 42
ANCIENT ARABIAN ALABASTER HEAD
SOUTHERN ARABIA, C. 1ST CENTURY B.C.
Auction: 28 May 2026 from 13:00 BST
Description
carved banded alabaster, with long tapering neck, slender mouth, thin ridged nose, deeply recessed almond eyes for inlay, raised on a bespoke mount
Dimensions
19.1cm tall
Provenance
Jimmy Belilty, Miami, acquired from the below 2010
Galerie 1492, Paris
Private collection, France, acquired prior to 2000
Footnote
The present piece is a fine example of the distinctive and enigmatic sculpture produced by the wealthy South Arabian kingdoms at the turn of the first millennium BC. With its facial features reduced to their essential forms, the head reflects the highly stylised aesthetic characteristic of the region. Most likely created to adorn a small rectangular niche within a tomb or ritual setting, as suggested by the flattened top of the head, it would have belonged to a high status private individual and may have functioned as a votive image commemorating the deceased.
Originating in a land of considerable prosperity, the Sabaeans were a powerful trading people whose wealth derived largely from the exchange of prized aromatics such as frankincense and myrrh. Some scholars associate their kingdom with the biblical land of Sheba, famed as the home of the wealthy Queen of Sheba.