A ROMAN MARBLE PORTRAIT FIGURE OF A BOY, KNOWN AS THE "YOUNG NERO", MID 1ST CENTURY A.D. | A Roman Marble Portrait Figure of a Boy, known as the "Young Nero"

standing with the weight on his right leg, and wearing single-laced shoes, tunic, and mantle draped over the left shoulder and lower body and falling over the left forearm, his right arm held before him, the head turned slightly to his left, his hair falling over the forehead in comma-shaped strands, a cylindrical scroll box container tied with straps behind his left leg; nose restored, other restorations removed.

Bartolomeo Cavaceppi (c.1716 - 1799), Rome
Sir John Dick, 5th Baronet of Braid (1719–1804), British Consul at Livorno, acquired from the above
French private collection, acquired prior to 1970, then by descent in the family until 2014

Bartolomeo Cavaceppi, Raccolta d’antiche statue busti, bassirilievi ed altre sculture restaurate da Bartolomeo Cavaceppi scultore romano, Rome, vol. 1, 1768, pl. 23: "Nerone fanciullo. Alto senza la base, palmi quattro. Or esistente presso l’Ill.mo Sig.r Giovanni Dick Consolo Britannico in Livorno" (http://arachne.uni-koeln.de/item/buchseite/215875)
Christian D. Beck, Grundriss der Archäologie, Leipzig, 1816, p. 237 (http://arachne.uni-koeln.de/item/buchseite/955622)
Comte de Clarac, Musée de Sculpture antique et moderne , vol. 5, Paris, 1851, p. 221, no. 2393, pl. 938 (http://arachne.uni-koeln.de/item/clarac/5123)
Salomon Reinach, Répertoire de la statuaire grecque et romaine, vol. 1, Paris, 1897, p. 577, no. 5
Johann J. Bernoulli, Römische Ikonographie, vol. II.1, Berlin, 1886, p. 395, no. 19 (https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/bernoulli1886/0408)
Seymour Howard, Bartolomeo Cavaceppi. Eighteenth Century Restorer, New York, 1982, p. 71, and p. 254
Ilaria Bignamini and Clare Hornsby, Digging and Dealing in Eighteenth-Century Rome, New Haven, 2010, p. 263, illus. (after Cavacepppi)

As shown. Proper right hand, upper and lower part of scroll once restored and now missing, with remains on iron pins on latter. Nose restored. Stress cracks across proper right cheek and hair, across proper right forearm, and on drapery on proper left leg. Circular hole carved through the base between the feet. Surface vigorously cleaned and with minor chips, nicks, and scratches overall.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Despite the similarities with securely identified portraits of the young Nero (compare a statue in the Louvre: K. de Kersauson, Musée du Louvre. Catalogue des portraits romains, vol. 1, 1986, p. 210f., no. 99), the head of the present statue is more likely to be a private portrait inspired by the Imperial image: the shoes (calcei) have only one set of straps, not two sets, as would be expected from members of the Imperial family (for calcei see H. Goette, Jahrbuch des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, vol. 103, 1988, pp. 449ff.). No direct parallels can be found for the draping of the mantle, perhaps a type of toga. For Sir John Dick (1719–1804), British Consul at Livorno between 1754–1776, see Bignamini and Hornsby, op. cit., p. 263f. Another statue owned by Dick and illustrated by Cavaceppi (op. cit., pl. 29), a seated Muse, is untraced (evidently a Roman copy of the same type as that of a statue in the Vatican: W. Amelung, Die Sculpturen des Vaticanischen Museums, vol. 2, 1908, pp. 467ff., no. 270, pl. 51).