The head is in a very poor state of preservation. Only the eyes (small and almond-shaped, without marked iris and pupil), part of the coiffure on either side of the face, and the neck are preserved. The rest of the face, as well as the upper part of the head are broken. At the back, on the surface of the neck and head up to about the height of the ears, there are two contrasting acanthus leaves in relief (probably a remnant of the original architectural member from which the head is carved). The extant part of the coiffure on either side of the face is combed in parallel wavy locks worked with the point, which are directed backwards, and cover the ears except for the lobes. The head should probably be identified as a portrait, as the superimposed - plastically rendered – “rings of Venus” on the surface of the neck are more commonly attested in portraits. Moderate quality of workmanship, as evident from the awkward shaping of the neck (a round cavity is also present at the front).
H. Dressel, A. Milchhoefer, “Die antiken Kunstwerke aus Sparta und Umgebung”, ΑΜ 2 (1877), 370, no. 167; M.N. Tod, A.J.B. Wace, A Catalogue of the Sparta Museum, Oxford 1906, 171, no. 361 (in a later period it was used as building material, as indicated by the acanthus leaves at the back); A. Datsouli-Stavridi, “Ρωμαϊκά πορτραίτα στο Μουσείο Σπάρτης”, in Πρακτικά του Α’ Τοπικού Συνεδρίου Λακωνικών Μελετών, Μολάοι 5-7 Ιουνίου 1982 (Peloponnesiaka Suppl. 9), Athens 1982-1983, 303 (period of Claudius; later turned into an architectural member, as indicated by the acanthus leaves at the back); A. Datsouli-Stavridi, Ρωμαϊκά πορτραίτα στο Μουσείο της Σπάρτης, Athens 1987, 16, no. 361, figs. 18-19; A. Delivorrias, “Λακωνικά Ανθέμια”, in O. Palagia, W. Coulson eds., Sculpture from Arcadia and Laconia, Oxford 1993, 215 with notes 47-48, figs. 21-22 (portrait of Sabina as Helen – a local Laconian deity).
