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LOT 0262
Scythian Chalcidian Helmet with Embossed Stags
3RD-1ST CENTURY B.C.
9 1/8 in. (696 grams, 31cm high).
Chalcidian or Illyrian variant (Caucasian type), constructed from two halves with the right side overlapping the left, embossed ram horns on the brow, with a profile image of a stag to both sides; hinged cheek-pieces with regularly disposed holes to the outer edges; some restoration.
ProvenanceAcquired on the European art market, mid-1980s.
Private collection, Oxford, UK.
From the collection of a London doctor.
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.12339-228100.
This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
Cf. Rabinovich, B. Z., Trudy Otdela istorii pervobytnoi kul’tury Gosudarstvennogo Ermitazha (Works of the Department of history of prehistoric culture of the State Hermitage) I, Leningrad, 1941, pp. 99-171; Erlikh, V. R., Rossiiskaia Arkheologiia (Russian Archaeology) (3), 1996, pp.176-179 (in Russian); Chernenko, E.V., The Scythians 700-300 BC, Hong Kong, 1998; Shevchenko, N.F., Zaitsev, Yu. P., Mordvintseva V. I. in Vestnik drevnei istorii (Bulletin of Ancient History) (1), 2011, pp.115-152 (in Russian); Симоненко А. В., 'Шлемы сарматского времени из Восточной Европы (Sarmatian Age Helmets from Eastern Europe)', in Stratum Plus, no. 4, 2014, pp.249-284; Negin, A.E., Negin, A. E., 'Pozdnerimskie shlemy s prodol'nym grebnem', in Germania-Sarmatia II, Kaliningrad-Kursk, 2010, pp.343–58; Hixenbaugh, R., Ancient Greek Helmets, a complete guide and catalogue, New York, 2019, nos.H303-H304.
FootnotesThe cultural interchange and the military contacts between the Nomads of Kuban and the Hellenic peoples allowed the Sindo-Meothic, Scythian, or Sarmatian noblemen to equip themselves with such beautiful defensive equipment. The helmet finds its closest parallel in a specimen published by A.E. Negin, belonging to the Puskin Fine Arts Museum of Moscow, originally in the collection of S. Karakowskij (Negin, 2010, p.354 no.6; Hixenbaugh H304). Some of the helmets of this type were modified according to the nomadic (Scythian or Sarmatian) taste, being decorated with religious elements, like the deer.
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Luristan Bronze Blade
12th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £260
With lentoid-section blade, tongue-shaped in plan, with integral tapering hilt with flared finial, lateral flanges to accept an organic panel forming the grip. 245 grams, 41 cm
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
The art of Luristan can be described as the art of nomadic herdsmen and horsemen with an emphasis on the crafting of small, easily portable objects, among these a great number of bronze weapons. The rich and noble aristocrats of the Luristan, Elamites, Hurrians, Lullubians, Kutians, and Kassites, went to battle splendidly equipped and wore magnificent bronze armour, using maces, spears and daggers as offensive weapons, alongside spears, bows and arrows. -
Luristan Bronze Spearhead
12th-11th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £234
With broad leaf-shaped blade and tapering square-section tang, flanged neck. 285 grams, 33.5 cm
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
The weapon belongs to type I of the Khorasani classification. Similar weapons have been excavated in Marlilk by Professor Negahban and dated by Stutzinger to the late 13th-early 12th century B.C. -
Luristan Bronze Dagger
12th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £338
The blade with raised central shallow rib and with separated crescent quillon, fitted with an integral rectangular-section lentoid pommel. 165 grams, 30.5 cm
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
The men who built the gravestones found in Luristan in the Middle Bronze Age, favoured offensive weaponry: bow, dagger, sword, spear, and javelin. The oldest daggers consisted of a blade and a wooden hilt. The blades were cast together with the tang and regularly featured a groove in the middle. Over time, during the Late Bronze Age, in addition to hilts filled with organic material, the daggers in which the hilt was cast in one piece with the blade developed.
