Spangenhelm Four-Part Helmet

About Auction

Live

TimeLine Auctions London Mayfair Sale

By TimeLine Auctions Limited

Nov 23, 2018

Set Reminder 2018-11-23 05:00:00 2018-11-23 05:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : TimeLine Auctions London Mayfair Sale https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/timeline-auctions-limited/timeline-auctions-london-mayfair-sale-3572
Auction Venue: The May Fair Hotel London Stratton Street Mayfair London, W1J 8LT Viewing from noon Thursday 22nd Nov. 2018 Champagne Reception: 6pm - 9pm Friday 23rd Nov. 2018 (Day 1) 10am : Lots 1 - 660 TimeLine Auctions Limited enquiries@timelineauctions.com

View Full Catalog (660)

• Lot Description
  8th-11th century AD. A Viking or Norman four-plate iron helmet, constructed of triangular sections, skillfully made to accommodate the curvature of the human head and with a slight point at the apex; contoured so that the front and back plates overlap the side-plates by 1-2cm, with iron rivets passing through this overlap to secure them in position; the rivets worked flat into the surface of the helmet, almost invisible from the outside but detectable on the inner surface; the inverted lower rim furnished with an additional series of rivets, probably to accommodate a lining; pegs at the base of the side-plates, where the cheek-plates were originally attached; the plate-junction at the apex with loop, allowing a plume or horsehair streamer to be inserted, or a conical covering plate to be attached. See Curtis, H. M., 2,500 Years of European Helmets, North Hollywood, 1978; Denny, N. & Filmer-Sankey, J., The Bayeux Tapestry, London, 1966; Kirpicnikow, A. N., Russische Helme aus dem Frahen Mittelalter Waffen- und Kostamkunde, 3rd Series, Vol. 15, pt. 2, 1973; Menghin, W. The Merovingian Period - Europe Without Borders, Berlin, 2007, p.326-7, item I.34.4. 789 grams, 21cm wide, 19cm high (8 1/4"). Formerly in an old private collection. Authenticated by I. Eaves, Arms and Armour Consultant; and accompanied by a report of metallurgic analytical results, written by Metallurgist Dr. Brian Gilmour of the Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford. Helmets of this general profile and with some form of conical crest are a long-lived military fashion in the Black Sea region, and appear in designs on the bone facing of a Khazar saddle of 7th-8th century date from the Shilovskiy gravefield (Samara region); a similar helmet (of presumed 5th century AD date) is housed in the St. Petersburg Museum (inventory reference PA72), previously in the MVF Berlin until 1945 under inventory ref.IIId 1789i. The rivetted-plate construction was employed across Europe from the Migration Period through to the 12th century: it is this form which appears on the heads of English and Norman warriors in the Bayeux tapestry.

  Condition

  Fair 'as found' condition. Rare.
• Shipping Info

  • Buyer Pays Shipping Costs

• Buyer's Premium
  • 28.00 %