Published Greek Illyrian Bronze Hoplite Helmet

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Fine Antiquities, Asian, Ethnographic Art

By Artemis Gallery

Oct 31, 2019

Set Reminder 2019-10-31 10:00:00 2019-10-31 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Fine Antiquities, Asian, Ethnographic Art https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/fine-antiquities-asian-ethnographic-art-4581
Our Halloween Day auction features classical antiquities, ancient and ethnographic art from cultures encompassing the globe, plus fine art. Artemis Gallery info@artemisgallery.com

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• Lot Description
  Northwestern Greece, ca. late 6th to 5th centuries BCE. A war helmet made of hammered bronze sheet, with a rectilinear opening for the face, long, pointed cheek pieces, and twin parallel ridges on the crown frame the crest. The back and sides flare out to guard the neck and have a border comrised of pseudo-rivets. The area above the forehead presents horizontal ridges just above the riveted border. Not only is the form very well preserved, but a rich, blue-green patina contributes to its beauty. These helmets were particularly popular in northern Greece, in the province of Illyria in modern day Balkans. They were made for hoplites, the citizen-soldiers of the Greek city states, who often furnished their own bronze armor. As a result, regional styles developed, and there is a great deal of variation in shape and form. Size: 9.5" L x 7.25" W x 10" H (24.1 cm x 18.4 cm x 25.4 cm); 20.125" H (51.1 cm) on included custom stand.
  
  Armor was not just for battle, however. The pseudo-rivets on this example show that this was made for parades or to be worn in death - on a battle helmet, those rivets would have been real, to attach to a leather guard. Excavations at Sindos in Macedonia, a necropolis with the remains of Greek soldiers, have found that there was a standardized and probably ritualized method for burial. This included the placement of armor in carefully proscribed areas of the body. The helmet was placed over the head, along with a strip of gold over the mouth and possibly others over the eyes. See similar examples to this helmet from the Metropolitan Museum of Art (1992.180.1, 2006.221, 2003.407.6) and the Louvre (CA 2221Or).
  
  Exhibited in "Dressed to Kill in Love and War: Splendor in the Ancient World", February 1 - March 31, 2019, Academy Art Museum, Maryland, USA, published in the exhibition guide by Sarah E. Cox and Anke Van Wagenberg, fig. 16.
  
  Provenance: Exhibited in "Dressed to Kill in Love and War: Splendor in the Ancient World", February 1 - March 31, 2019, Academy Art Museum, Maryland, USA, published in the exhibition guide by Sarah E. Cox and Anke Van Wagenberg, fig. 16; ex-private New York, New York, USA collection, acquired in the 1990s
  
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  #146072

  Condition

  Areas of repair and restoration to the rear section of helmet. See x-rays. Expected abrasions to areas and indentations commensurate with age. Perforations to ends of cheek pieces, top center above ridges, and back above neck guard, presumably to attach ornaments. Wonderful rich green and blue-green azurite patina.
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