Details

LOT 0258

Norman or Viking Period Iron Four-Plate Helmet

CIRCA 8TH-12TH CENTURY A.D.

17 1/4 in. (3.36 kg total, 44 cm high including stand).

Comprising four triangular plates each with curved profile mounted with the frontal and rear plates overlapping the lateral ones, rivetted; two small lateral rings for attachment of cheek-plates; mounted on a custom-made display stand.

Provenance

Acquired 1971-1972.
From the collection of the vendor's father.
Property of a London, UK, collector.

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no. 11754-202772.

Literature

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 Frühen Mittelalter, Waffen- und Kostumkunde, 3rd Series, Vol.15, pt. 2, 1973; D’Amato, R., ‘Old and new evidence on East-Roman helmets from the 9th to the 12th centuries,’ in Acta Militaria Medievalia, 2015, XI, pp. 27-157, items fig.23, nn.1-2 and pl.1.

Footnotes

The type of helmet composed from rivetted plates is a long-lived military fashion depicted from Late Antiquity to the medieval period.