CIRCA LATE 1ST CENTURY B.C.-1ST CENTURY A.D.

Details

A ROMAN TINNED BRONZE HELMET OF WEISENAU TYPE
CIRCA LATE 1ST CENTURY B.C.-1ST CENTURY A.D.
13 ½ in. (34.2 cm.) long

Provenance

with Axel Weber, Cologne, by 1982.
Axel Guttmann (1944-2001), Berlin, acquired from the above, 1983 (Inv. no AG292/H70; Antike Helme Kalender, 1991, front cover and November).
The Axel Guttmann Collection of Ancient Arms and Armour, Part 2, Christie's, London, 28 April 2004, lot 143.
Antiken de Sammlung Axel Guttmann, Auktion 56, Hermann Historica, Munich, 8 October 2008, lot 61.
Christian Levett, London, acquired from the above on behalf of the Mougins Museum of Classical Art.

Literature

M. Junkelmann, "Roman Helmets in the Axel Guttmann Collection," Journal of Roman Military Equipment Studies, vol. 10, 1999, pp. 81, 83, fig. 2.
M. Junkelmann, Römische Helme: Sammlung Axel Guttmann, Mainz, 2000, pp. 78-79, 124-125, figs. 57-60, pl. IX; foldout 1.
M. Junkelmann, Das Spiel mit dem Tod: So kämpften Roms Gladiatoren, Mainz, 2000, p. 55, fig. 68.
M. Junkelmann, "Roman Militaria," in M. Merrony, ed., Mougins Museum of Classical Art, Mougins, 2011, p. 254, fig. 52.
M. Merrony, ed., Musée d’Art Classique de Mougins: La collection Famille Levett, Mougins, 2012, p. 77, fig. 20.
M. Knowles, "Marching to the Roman Beat," Minerva, January-February 2011, p. 26, fig. 1.
D. Sim and J. Kaminski, Roman Imperial Armour: The Production of Early Imperial Military Armour, Oxford, 2011, p. 123, pl. 7.
"Picasso, Klein, Gladiator," Nice-Matin, 3 March 2013, p. 32.
K. Schörle, ed., L'Armée de Rome: La Puissance et la Gloire, Arles, 2018, pp. 40, 61, no. 29.
"Expo musée d’Arles: 'L’Armée de Rome, la puissance et la gloire" (online article, humanhist.com, 2018).
J. Coulston, "The Power and the Glory," Minerva, March/April 2019, p. 19, fig. 15.
P. Faure and F. Hurlet, eds., En quête de pouvoir: De Rome à Lugdunum, Lyon, 2021, p. 63, fig. 3.

Exhibited

Mougins Museum of Classical Art, 2011-2023 (Inv. no. MMoCA190).
Arles, Musée départemental Arles antique, L'Armée de Rome: La Puissance et la Gloire, 15 December 2018-22 April 2019.
Lyon, Lugdunum Musée et théâtres romains, Une salade, César? La cuisine romaine de la taverne au banquet, 14 October 2020-25 April 2021.

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Hannah Fox Solomon Head of Department, Specialist

hsolomon@christies.com +1 212 636 2256

Lot Essay

This impressive legionary helmet is of domed form with a wide, flaring neck-guard with reinforcement bands riveted to its outer edge. The back has two pronounced embossed bands, while the small ear openings have a raised rim. The front of the dome features massive embossed horns, or eyebrows, rising above the browband, which is riveted in place. Hinges at the sides once supported separately-made cheek-guards. Rivets preserved on either side of the neck-guard are enigmatic, while a perforation at its center may once have secured a small handle for carrying. A significant feature of this helmet is its well-preserved tinned surface. This mirror-like finish would have been dazzling in battle under the intense Mediterranean sun.

Typologically, this helmet falls into the Weisenau category, which were made of either bronze or iron. Weisenau helmets and their variants were popular beginning in the late first century B.C. and continued into the 2nd century A.D. The type was also previously classified by H.R. Robinson as the "Imperial Gallic" Type I (see The Armour of Imperial Rome). For more recent discussions of the type, see pp. 114-121 in R. D’Amato and G. Sumner, Arms and Armour of the Imperial Roman Soldier and pp. 146-154 in T. Fischer, Die Armee der Caesaren.

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