GREEK CHALCIDIAN TINNED BRONZE HELMET

Ca. 500-300 BC. Greek. A striking Chalcidian helmet made of hammered tinned bronze, with a sharply flaring neck-guard, a short slender nose guard running to broad arching eye openings; the brow shows two slender eyebrows. The articulated crescentic cheek-pieces with contoured edges are attached with hinges; a hole for the attachment of a chin-strap is visible on each cheek piece. Chalcidian helmets are named after similar helmets depicted on pottery vases from the Euboean city of Chalcis. This type of ancient Greek helmet was a lighter and less restrictive form of the Corinthian helmet. The hinged cheek pieces were anatomically formed to fit closely to the face and tended to curve upward towards the eye, where large circular openings provided a wider field of view than the Corinthian helmets. Excellent condition; custom-made stand included. For more information on Chalcidian helmets, see Everson, T. (2004). Warfare in Ancient Greece: arms and armour from the heroes of Homer to Alexander the Great. The History Press, 116–124.Size: L:300mm / W:270mm; 1kg. Provenance: Property of a European collector, previously acquired from a gallery in Brussels; formerly in a collection of Ing Peter Till formed in the 1980s, Vienna; later in Flemish collection of Mr. L. De Backer.