Kunst und Antiquitaeten - Antiken, Asiatika und Russische Kunst

A late Hellenistic helmet, special form of the Attic type, 1st century B.C. Bronze helmet with two iron cheek guards. Bronze calotte with hemispherical upper part. At the front it is terminated by a frontal bar driven out from the inside with lateral volutes and a central “pediment”, at the back of the neck by an angular, massive rib. Below the frontal bar, a smooth rimzonewith an outwardly placed and inwardly flanged rim, which bends down- wards behind the facial field. From there the rim runs horizontally to the neck guard, which flares outwards below the neck rib. Above the frontal bar run two parallel narrow ribs, reminiscent of the ribs of Illyrian helmets, or of the crest ribs of two-piece helmets of the northern Black Sea region. The ribs are only slightly pronounced at the front, tapering off at the back of the calotte and merging with the calotte. Between the volutes and the downward running, flanged edge of the face field, two iron rivets each, with which iron cheek guards were attached. The cheek guards slightly retracted in the centre at the front, the hinges with which they were attached to the rivets lost. The cheek guards bordered on the sides by flanged bronze sheet. On the inside of the left cheek guard at the lower edge, a bronze tab is still preserved and fastened with an iron rivet. Here a loop could be pulled to close the helmet. On the other cheek guard only the rivet hole is still visible. Height without cheek guards 19 cm.Width21 cm. Length 23 cm. Beautiful dark green patina on the outside. Pressure mark on the left side, cracks in the calotte in the area of the crown and towards the neck. Various dents on the neck guard. Otherwise excellently preserved original substance without completions. Extremely interesting, late special form of an Attic helmet, similar in many features to a hel- met from Pergamon preserved in Berlin. Other features, such as the massive rib in the neck area, the outwardly set edge of the facial field and the iron cheek guards framed by bronze sheet, are found on early Roman helmets of the Imperial period. The basic shape is also remi- niscent of Roman helmets of the form Wei- senau/Guttmann, or an Early Imperial bronze helmet from Frankfurt-Heddernheim. P rovenance : From an English private collec- tion, acquired by the father of the present owner from a US collection. 302477 II - € 9.000 | 49 28