It is one of some 150 lots of ancient art from the collection of one of Australia's foremost dealers, Graham Geddes, which will be offered for sale by Bonhams on October 15.
Not surprisingly, the Melbourne dealer, who now has other collecting interests, affectionately referred to the carving, with its quiff, strong jaw and nose, as 'Elvis'.
In fact specialist Chantelle Waddingham told ATG that stylised figures such as this have a number of parallels both in the relevant literature and in public and private collections.
The £1.2m Geddes collection, which includes more than 50 classical Greek vases and 30 pieces of marble sculpture, will provide Bonhams with a single-owner catalogue to complement their antiquities auction of the same day.
The estimate for Roman 'Elvis' is £25,000-35,000. Thank you very much.
By Roland Arkell
