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Lot Essay
This helmet is emblematic of the early Chalcidian type. Its dynamic form features a pronounced carinated ridge around the dome, rising to a peak above the forehead. The thin, stylized nose-guard and curvilinear check-guards permit a broad opening for the eyes. Around the nose-guard and eye-openings is a raised decorative ridge. The top of the dome preserves a forked crest holder with palmette finials. For a similar example, see the helmet in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, no. 1535 in G.M.A. Richter, Greek, Etruscan and Roman Bronzes.
Of interest is the silver appliqué, here partially-preserved above the proper left eye. While traditionally thought to represent stylized eyebrows, more recent scholarship has challenged this notion. As Hixenbaugh notes (op. cit., p. 223), the Greek bronze smith occasionally included recognizable facial hair on helmets, indicating that the realistic reproduction of hair, including eyebrows, was possible. In contrast, Hixenbaugh writes, “these curvilinear lines…do not give one the impression of eyebrows. Rather they look like abstract thin curled horns. It is much more likely they represent ram or bull horns. They also suggest the horns of the god Pan, who was thought to spread panic on the battlefield. Like the charging bull, the tenacious bucking of caprids would have been familiar to anyone close to the land.”
Of interest is the silver appliqué, here partially-preserved above the proper left eye. While traditionally thought to represent stylized eyebrows, more recent scholarship has challenged this notion. As Hixenbaugh notes (op. cit., p. 223), the Greek bronze smith occasionally included recognizable facial hair on helmets, indicating that the realistic reproduction of hair, including eyebrows, was possible. In contrast, Hixenbaugh writes, “these curvilinear lines…do not give one the impression of eyebrows. Rather they look like abstract thin curled horns. It is much more likely they represent ram or bull horns. They also suggest the horns of the god Pan, who was thought to spread panic on the battlefield. Like the charging bull, the tenacious bucking of caprids would have been familiar to anyone close to the land.”