| 41 A Roman bronze helmet of the Niederbieber type, 3rd century A.D. A bronze bowl hammered in one piece, the sides with strikingly flared and stepped ear openings, the back pulled deeply downwards and provided with a neck guard sloping slightly downwards. The neck guard at the rim with heavy chipping, the underside with an incised, cursive owner’s inscription. On the crest lengthwise a bronze stirrup, drawn close to the neck guard at the back, fastened at both ends by a rivet with a large, conical head. Transversely across the top of the calotte an iron stirrup held in position by a slot on the top of the bronze stirrup. From the frontal stirrup of sheet bronze only the rivet hole for fastening on the left and a rivet with the base of the stirrup on the right are preserved. Inside, iron hinge lugs attached to the sides with a rivet, which formed a three-part joint with the bent upper ends of the cheek flaps. Only the right cheek flap survives, with an outwardly set, wide rim at the bottom and two facial cutouts at the front . The ears completely covered by the cheek flaps into the ear cut-out. The preserved cheek flap modernly attached at four points on the inside. The calotte and cheek flap stabilised from the inside with gauze and plastic, a fracture of the bronze longitudinal stirrup as well. Length ca. 29 cm, width ca. 19 cm, height ca. 29 cm. The latest and most advanced form of Roman helmets in the tradition of examples with the bowl hammered out of one piece. Extremely thin and light wall for the purpose of weight reduction, which was strengthened in terms of stability and safety by the more massive cross-bars on the upper part. In the time around 300, during the Tetrarchy, replaced by new, completely different construction principles (ridge helmets with multi-part bowls). Provenance: From the estate of a South German military collector, acquired in 2008 at Hermann Historica (auction 54, lot 365). Previously the Axel Guttman Collection (AG 543/ H242), acquired in 1994 in Krefeld. Published in Junkelmann, “Römische Helme. Axel Guttmann Collection VIII”, 2000, p. 158 with figs. 81 and 82. 307711 II - III € 15.000 12
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