CIRCA 350-300 B.C.

Details

A SAMNITE BRONZE TRILOBATE CUIRASS
CIRCA 350-300 B.C.
10 in. (25.4 cm.) high

Provenance

Axel Guttmann (1944-2001), Berlin, acquired in Freiburg, 1988 (Inv. no. AG234/R49).
Antiken der Sammlung Axel Guttmann, Auktion 57, Hermann Historica, Munich, 22 April 2009, lot 343.
Christian Levett, London, acquired from the above on behalf of the Mougins Museum of Classical Art.

Literature

M. Burns, "Graeco-Italic Militaria," M. Merrony, ed., Mougins Museum of Classical Art, Mougins, 2011, p. 227, fig. 126.

Exhibited

Mougins Museum of Classical Art, 2011-2023 (Inv. no. MMoCA271).

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Hannah Fox Solomon Head of Department, Specialist

hsolomon@christies.com +1 212 636 2256

Lot Essay

Early Italic bronze body armour consisted of a protective disc positioned over the heart, called a kardiophylakes. Over time this evolved into the triangular-shaped triple-disk cuirass, as seen here. Partially-preserved hinges are visible along the upper edge of both the breast- and back-plate, to which a shoulder-plate would have been attached to secure both sides. The back-plate features two riveted loops near the lower disk for the attachment of now-missing side-plates. For a similar example preserving parts of the shoulder-plates, see the one in the Getty Villa, no. 205 in M. True and K. Hamma, eds., A Passion For Antiquities: Ancient Art from the Collection of Barbara and Lawrence Fleischman.

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