MAGNA GRAECIA, LATE CLASSICAL TO HELLENISTIC PERIOD, CIRCA 350-250 B.C.

Details

A GREEK BRONZE CHALCIDIAN HELMET
MAGNA GRAECIA, LATE CLASSICAL TO HELLENISTIC PERIOD, CIRCA 350-250 B.C.
11 ¼ in. (28.5 cm.) high

Provenance

Axel Guttmann (1944-2001), Berlin (Inv. no. AG442/H136).
The Art of Warfare: The Axel Guttmann Collection, Part 1, Christie's, London, 6 November 2002, lot 68.
with Royal-Athena Galleries, New York, acquired from the above (Minerva, May-June 2003, p. 48; Ancient Arms, Armour, and Images of Warfare, 2004, no. 23; Art of the Ancient World, vol. XV, 2004, no. 53).
Christian Levett, London, acquired from the above on behalf of the Mougins Museum of Classical Art, 2008.

Literature

M. Burns, "Graeco-Italic Militaria," in M. Merrony, ed., Mougins Museum of Classical Art, Mougins, 2011, p. 217, fig. 104.
R. Hixenbaugh, Ancient Greek Helmets: A Complete Guide and Catalog, New York, 2019, p. 487, no. X324.

Exhibited

Mougins Museum of Classical Art, 2011-2023 (Inv. no. MMoCA158).

Conditions of sale

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Lot Essay

Noteworthy features of this elegant helmet include a raised pediment above the M-shaped face guard which terminates in volutes above the hinged cheek-guards. Below the peak is a leonine monster, its body formed of raised stylized locks coiled at their tips, terminating in incised heads with exposed teeth and lolling tongues. Punched arcs adorn the area above the helmet’s raised edge. For a similar example, see pp. 114-117 in D. von Bothmer, ed., Glories of the Past.

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