A Marble Marine Sarcophagus, Roman Imperial, circa 1st Quarter of the 3rd Century A.D.

the front carved in high relief with a portrait bust of a woman within in a shell flanked by two nereids riding sea-centaurs and two nereids grasping the neck of sea-bulls, erotes swimming beneath the shell and at both ends, and flying above the scene, each short side carved in shallow relief with an erote riding a sea creature, one a sea-horse, the other a sea-panther, no restorations.

church of Santi Giovanni e Paulo, Monte Celio, Rome, circa 1560/1565 (wherein seen and partially drawn by Giovannantonio Dosio)
Villa Giustiniani, Rome, late 18th Century (wherein seen and described by Georg Zoega)
Palazzo Giustiniani, Rome, 1870s (wherein seen and described by Friedrich Matz and drawn by Ernst Eichler)
acquired by the present owner’s late parents

1811 inventory of the Palazzo Giustiniani (Angela Gallottini, Le sculture della collezione Giustiniani I. Documenti, Rome, 1998, p. 272, as no. 279).

Galleria Giustiniana, vol. II, Rome, circa 1640, pl. 98
Georg Zoega, Manuscript Apparatus to the Bassirilievi di Roma, Royal Library, Copenhagen, fol. 299
Karl O. Müller, Handbuch der Archäologie der Kunst, 3rd ed., Breslau, 1848, p. 655
Otto Jahn, “Über ein Marmorrelief der Glyptothek in München,” Berichte über die Verhandlungen der Königlich-Sächsischen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig, 1854, p. 182, note 101, and p. 190, note 148
Otto Jahn, Entführung der Europa auf antiken Kunstwerken (Denkschriften. Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften. Philosophisch-Historische Klasse, vol. 19), Vienna, 1870, p. 51, note 4
Friedrich Matz and Friedrich von Duhn, Antike Bildwerke in Rom, vol. 2, mit Ausschluss der grösseren Sammlungen, Leipzig, 1881, p. 379, no. 3197
Friedrich R. Dressler, Triton und die Tritonen in der Litteratur und Kunst der Griechen und Römer, vol. 2, Wurzen, 1893, p. 14, no. 19
Christian Hülsen, Das Skizzenbuch des Giovannantonio Dosio im Staatlichen Kupferstichkabinett zu Berlin, Berlin, 1933, p. 59, note to fol. 3 (partial drawing of front panel, inscribed “A S[anti] Gio[vanni] et Paolo,” Staatsbibliothek Berlin, Ms. lat. Fol. 61n)
Andreas Rumpf, Die Meerwesen auf den antiken Sarkophagreliefs, Die antiken Sarkophagreliefs, vol. V.1, Berlin, 1939, p. 27f., no. 71, figs. 40-41 (drawings by Eichler and Dosio), pl. 20 (early 20th-cent. photograph)
Angela Gallottini, op. cit., p. 69, fig. 22 (Galleria Giustiniana engraving)

Sides and back repaired from several fragments secured with iron clamps sunk in lead. Break lines partially filled in with mortar. Part of lower section of one short side missing. Both upper corners in front missing and with irons pins sticking out where marble restorations were once attached. Figures fragmentary and abraded. Surface weathered overall. One hole in bottom center, one at bottom of one short side (now plugged), and one in back.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

For two other recently rediscovered Giustiniani marbles see Sotheby’s, New York, December 8th, 2011, no. 15 (a group of Eros and Anteros), and Sotheby’s, London, Ancient Marbles, June 13th, 2016, no. 10 (a statue of Aphrodite), respectively Galleria Giustiniana, vol. I, pls. 25 and 39. Also see Sotheby’s, New York, June 5th, 2008, no. 30, a herm bust of a deity not recognized as a Giustiniani sculpture at the time of publication; it is recorded in Galleria Giustiniana, vol. II, pl. 56.