LOT 0250

Etrusco-Italic Breastplate with Mythical Animal

5TH CENTURY B.C.

11 1/4 in. (626 grams total, 28.5 cm high including stand).

Displaying a repoussé horned animal advancing right, two roundels composed of bulbous rivets flanking the animal and encircling the central design; accompanied by a custom-made display stand.

Collection of Jacques and Henriette Schumann, formed between 1950 and 1970.
The Schumanns inherited part of their collection from Henriette’s parents, Alice and Fernand Halphen, andjacques’ maternal grandfather, Albert Lehmann.
Collection of Jacques and Henriette Schumann, Christie's, Paris, 30th September 2003, lot 85.

Accompanied by a copy of a French cultural passport no.107322.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.11877-207824.

Cf. The Metropolitan Museum, New York, accession number 18.145.23, wrongly classified as shield boss; cf. Connolly, P., Greece and Rome at war, London, 2006, figs.9-14 p.101, for a similar one and the fastening system.

This type of armour, composed from a bronze breast and back plate with hinged shoulder straps, all the parts backed with iron, was used by Etruscans, Hernici, Aequi and Volsci, the feared enemies of early Rome. In particular our item has many parallels with the disc-cuirass (cardiophylax) found in the Necropolis of Alfadena.