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_900x900.jpg "Greek Bronze Illyrian Helmet")
_200x200.jpg "Greek Bronze Illyrian Helmet")
_900x900.jpg "Greek Bronze Illyrian Helmet")
_200x200.jpg "Greek Bronze Illyrian Helmet")
.jpg "Greek Bronze Illyrian Helmet")
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LOT 0253
Greek Bronze Illyrian Helmet
6TH-4TH CENTURY B.C.
12 1/4 in. (2.7 kg total, 31 cm high including stand).
Of domed Illyrian typology IIIA, variant 3, raised from a single sheet with protective cheek-pieces, two parallel corrugated raised ridges to the upper face, running over the crown from front to back, square-cut frontal opening with smooth edges, short curved rear flange developing from behind towards the forward curving cheek-protectors, the latter having two holes at the extremities for the fastening of a chin-strap; button pin at the centre of the back for attachment of a crest, pierced hole in the front for the corresponding pin.
ProvenanceEx Mr G. Grimm collection.
Acquired from a French auction house.
Ex important London gallery.
The Kusmirek Collection, UK.
Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D'Amato
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.10194-167379.
See Pflug, H., 'Illirysche Helme' in Antike Helme, RGZM Monographien 14, Mainz, 1988, pp.43-64; Connolly, P., Greece and Rome at war, London, 1981; for an example of similar helmet with golden mask, from the grave 115 in Sindos, today in the archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki, see Pflug, 1988, p.60; an example with similar elements from the Axel Guttman collection (Christie's, 2004, p.80) showing the same long cheekpieces and short rear flange.
FootnotesThis helmet was probably fitted with a high crest, attached with animal glue and composed of horsehair. It was positioned inside a holder worn between the raised ridges and fastened to the front and back pins, one of them still visible. The recent finds of Illyrian helmets without reinforced edges have suggested that the variants of this typology of helmet could have evolved as their own group, during the late period of its employment (from mid 6th to 4th century B.C.). The earlier specimens have been found in Olympia and Trebeniste (North Macedonia), although the neck protection of these helmets was still in the style of archaic Illyrian types. The helmets from Sindos introduced the characteristics of such late evolution. The diffusion of this typology shows that it was preferred by Macedonian warriors, by the Illyrian fighters and by the Greeks in Sicily and Peloponnesos, considering that the finds are concentrated in the corresponding areas.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0253
Greek Bronze Illyrian Helmet
Estimate £15,000 - 20,000€17,400 - 23,200 (for guidance only)$20,250 - 27,000 (for guidance only)
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Victorian 1845 Pattern Officer's Sword by Buckmaster
19th century A.D.Estimate: £200 - 300 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £83
Composed of a slightly curved and fullered blade with crowned VR monograms, royal arms and maker's name and London address; with half-basket pierced brass guard and hilt bearing openwork crowned VR monogram; ray skin hilt with wire binding, 733 grams, 97 cm
Acquired from ROA Antique Arms, UK. The Kusmirek Collection, UK. Accompanied by a copy of the ROA purchase invoice and listing. -
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Roman Bronze Armour Double Fastening Hooks
Circa 1st century A.D.Estimate: £150 - 200 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £75
Each a scrolled bar formed as a serpent or other animal with stylised geometric detailing; attachment perforations to both terminals. 19.6 grams total, 64-66 mm
Acquired on the London art market, 1980s-1990s.
In the 1st century B.C.-1st century A.D., the Celtic fastening system of the ring mail armour (gallica, lorica ferro aspera) became the standard in the Imperial Roman army, with a pivot attached to the breast and hinged to the edges of the humeralia (shoulder guards). The chest fastener had various different designs. The double hooks, S-shaped and usually with snake-head terminals, were secured by a central rivet on the chest. The system allowed excellent freedom of movement, giving greater protection to the shoulders and the arms. Similar fasteners for infantry mail have been found on the Kalkriese battlefield, some of them also decorated with niello and inscribed with the name of the soldier. -
Medieval Iron Schiavonesca Type Sword with Latten Inlaid Crosses
Circa 15th century A.D.Estimate: £800 - 1,000 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £300
Comprising a broad double-edged parallel-sided blade, flat-section at the upper third with a very shallow central fuller, elliptical-section at the lower end; flat guard with scooped lower edge, D-section arms horizontally S-curved; 'cat's head' type pommel, rectangular with scrolled upper edge and integral central boss to both faces; on the upper part of the blade an engraved three-armed workshop mark and two possibly later added brass inlaid marks including a cross fourchee inside and the image of a sword to one side; mounted on a wall display mount. 1.7 kg total, 1.11 m
In general good condition, point missing, blade structure with little delamination along the upper part, corrosion damages along the edges and on the surface, some material loss on the original surface.
Private collection, Munich, Germany, 1970s. Private collection, London, UK, 2014, acquired from the above.
The Schiavonesca sword was used by Dalmatian mercenaries serving in the Venetian state armies, and produced by the workshops of the Serenissima to which the marks probably belong. Many of these swords were produced in Dubrovnik, a Croatian city under the Venetian rule. Oakeshott classified all the pommels of square shape in his Type Z. Certain morphological differences between them were individuated by Dr Aleksić as a criteria for distinguishing the distinct subtypes, in this case the type Z3 for the upper crenelleted edge. The cross-guards of type 12b, like in this case, have symmetrically and horizontally sharply bent arms in the opposite directions. The 'cat's head' pommel is also found on surviving examples of cross-hilted swords of the 14th century which can be traced into the hands of Slavonic soldiers stationed in southern Europe, employed in the European armies of this period. The independent representation of the cross fourchee usually inscribed in a circle is rather frequent on the swords with type 12 cross guards and type Z pommel from Hungary, Northern Balkans and the neighbouring regions (Aleksić, 2007, p.122).
