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LOT 0325
Villanovan Bronze Helmet
8TH CENTURY B.C.
12 in. (1.7 kg, 30.5 cm wide).
With rounded bowl and flared rim; three sets of paired piercings for attachment of leather cheek-flaps; cracked; accompanied by a custom-made display stand.
ProvenanceAcquired early 1990s.
Ex private American collection; thence by descent.
Private European collection since 1998.
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 no.11573-199009.
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. Coussin, P., Les Armes Romaines, Paris, 1926; Connolly, P., Greece and Rome at War, London, 1981; Fossati, I., Etruscan Armies, Milano, 1987, p.50, fig.4; Egg, M., 'Italische Helme mit krempe' in Antike Helme, RGZM Monographien 14, Mainz, 1988, pp.222ff., figs.1, 2, 34 and items 58-59, for type; Sekunda, N., and Northwood, S., Early Roman Armies, Oxford, 1995; Connolly, P., Greece and Rome at War, London, 2006; D'Amato, R., Salimbeti, A., The Etruscans, Oxford, 2018, pp.21ff. and pl.B3; D’Amato, R., Negin, A., Decorated Roman Armour, London, 2017, pp.8ff. and fig.2.
FootnotesThe ‘pot’ or ‘bell’ helmet, found in contexts as early as the 8th century coffer grave (ad arca) from the Esquiline (Rome) and other graves (Coussin, 1926, p.88, fig.23; Sekunda, Northwood,1995, p.6, grave 94) was made from a single piece of bronze, while later Italic variants were fashioned from jointed plates (Connolly, 1981, p.102, figs.2-2a; Egg, 1988, p.223, variant Vetulonia). The skull was somewhat spherical, with a flared rim: in some Etruscan and Italic specimens, this was rivetted for strength.
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Luristan Bronze Dagger Blade
2nd-1st millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £156
Triangular double-edged blade with raised midrib and short tang with a rivet in situ. 263 grams, 34.5 cm
Ex North London, UK, collection, 1990s. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato. -
Hellenistic Bronze Cuirass Section
3rd-1st century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £520
Possibly the upper right back element of a composite cuirass for a cataphract (armoured horseman), part of the edge around the neck and shoulders preserved, iron rivets and holes for attaching the shoulder straps still visible. 220 grams, 23 cm
UK private collection, acquired in 1996. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
A near complete armour for cataphract was found in the French excavations in Al-Khanoum, a Hellenistic city in Afghanistan. The cavalry of Seleucid, Ptolemaic and other Hellenistic Kingdoms formed regiments of heavy armoured horsemen, who in the west, employed a combination of lamellar and segmented armour together with muscled armour of Greek type. Cataphract armour in the West had more Greek element, for example more plate armour and less scale and lamellar. -
Byzantine 'Greek Fire' Ceramic Fire Bomb or Hand Grenade
9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £85
A bulbous missile with domed mouth; the body with three large annulets with ring-and-circle motif to the centre interspersed with vertical rows of ring-and-circle motifs; intended to be filled with explosive liquid and wick, used as a hand grenade. 740 grams, 11.8 cm
From an important specialist collection, London, UK, 1990s onwards. Accompanied by an academic paper by military specialist Dr Raffaele D'Amato, dated 15 July 2019 and titled 'Eastern Roman Empire - Greek Fire Bomb or Hand Grenade (μεσαίον kακάβιον) 9th-11th century AD'. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
Apart from the use of siphons or manual flame-throwers called cheirosiphona, special corps of Roman soldiers employed terracotta grenades, in the form of small jars, abundantly evidenced in archaeological excavations. They were called μεσαία kακαβιά or κυτροκακάβια where the former had a bulbous shape and the latter a more cylindrical form.
