Sandstone Corbel with the Head of a King, c. 14th century

The visage is unusually charismatic and certainly, as Richard Wiseman's catalog noted of this piece, majestic. This is a secular figure, a crowned king, which lent dignity and authority to the space it originally occupied.

Unusually, traces of original polychrome survive, and even shell fragments, possibly periwinkle, embedded in the pupils.

Provenance:
Sotheby’s, London, 8 Dec. 2009, lot 30
Richard Wiseman Collection
Saria Collection, California

Literature:
Forty Medieval Carvings from the Collection of Richard Wiseman, cat. no. 27
Other head sculptures from the Richard Wiseman collection were included in the exhibition “30 Heads”, Sam Fogg.