A marble bust is a sculpture of the human head, neck and upper part of the chest or shoulders, carved from marble. Busts may depict real individuals, figures from classical history and mythology, or idealised types, and they are normally set on a small integral or separate socle so they can be displayed on a pedestal, plinth or bracket.
The tradition goes back to Greek and Roman portrait sculpture and was revived in the Renaissance. From the seventeenth century onwards, marble busts became an essential feature of the grand country house, adorning libraries, staircases and halls, and English Grand Tour travellers brought home antique busts and copies from Rome. Sculptors working in Britain, including Louis-François Roubiliac, Joseph Nollekens and Sir Francis Chantrey, produced fine portrait busts, while Italian workshops supplied copies of famous antiquities in white Carrara marble well into the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Value depends on the quality of the carving, particularly around the eyes, hair and drapery, on the sculptor and sitter, and on the colour and purity of the marble. Collectors should look for a signature or provenance and inspect for restored noses, ears and chips, staining and later repairs to the socle.
