Phillips will offer a rare limestone head by Amedeo Modigliani, Tête (1911-12), at its New York marquee sales in November, carrying an estimate of $28 million to $35 million. If it reaches its expected level, the sculpture would rank among the most expensive three-dimensional works by the artist ever sold at auction. Carved from a single block of limestone, the work belongs to Modigliani's celebrated series of sculpted heads, with the slender face, elongated nose and faint smiling mouth that characterise the group. Many of the related heads are held by major institutions, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Tate in London. The artist is believed to have produced only about 28 sculptures in his lifetime, of which 26 survive. The head is described as fresh to the market after nearly fifty years in the same private collection, a factor auction specialists emphasised as central to its appeal. Phillips's deputy chairman of the Americas and senior international specialist called it a masterpiece, pointing to its historical significance within the artist's short but pivotal sculptural career. The consignment will not, however, threaten Modigliani's sculpture record. In 2010 Christie's sold another stone head for $52.8 million, at the time the artist's overall auction record. A separate work titled Tête made $34.3 million at Christie's in 2019. The artist's highest auction benchmark overall remains the $170.4 million achieved in 2015 for the 1918 painting Nu couché, one of the most expensive artworks ever sold. With November's New York sales approaching, the head is expected to draw strong attention from both private collectors and institutions.