MAGNA GRAECIA, LATE CLASSICAL TO HELLENISTIC PERIOD, CIRCA 400-200 B.C.

Details

A GREEK BRONZE PILOS HELMET
MAGNA GRAECIA, LATE CLASSICAL TO HELLENISTIC PERIOD, CIRCA 400-200 B.C.
15 in. (38.1 cm.) high

Provenance

Axel Guttmann (1944-2001), Berlin, acquired in Zurich, 1991 (Inv. no. AG390/H122).
Antiken der Sammlung Axel Guttmann, Auktion 60, Hermann Historica, Munich, 13 October 2010, lot 2163.
Christian Levett, London, acquired from the above on behalf of the Mougins Museum of Classical Art.

Literature

M. Burns, "Graeco-Italic Militaria," in M. Merrony, ed., Mougins Museum of Classical Art, Mougins, 2011, p. 209, fig. 83.
R. Hixenbaugh, Ancient Greek Helmets: A Complete Guide and Catalog, New York, 2019, p. 534, no. H259.

Exhibited

Mougins Museum of Classical Art, 2011-2023 (Inv. no. MMoCA596).

Conditions of sale

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Lot Essay

This helmet’s conical dome is adorned with wheel appliqués above the offset flaring rim and two inward curving bull horns. According to Hixenbaugh (op. cit.), “The strength and virility of the bull were recognized in all ancient societies that had domesticated the bovine…The hoplite that wore a helmet adorned with large proud horns imagined himself as this formidable beast. The charging bull, as most ancient men had observed, was a frightening and unstoppable force.”

For a similar example, see p. 152 in A. Bottini, et. al., eds., Antike Helme.

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