RARE CELTIC IRON AND BRONZE HELMET - XRF TESTED

Ca. 300 BC-100 AD. Celtic. Western European. A rare and superbly preserved Celtic iron and bronze helmet. The helmet has a hemispherical one-piece bowl of cast, hammered, chased, and engraved iron, which is surmounted by a bronze low crest that bifurcates at the rear and front in two crescents that used to extend around the whole bowl. The bowl is decorated with further bronze double crescents, flanked by two circular inserts. The rim is also made of bronze and displays a perforation at each side to secure cheek pieces. Good condition; the item has undergone X-ray fluorescence analysis to confirm the metallurgical content suggesting its ancient origin and lack of modern trace elements. This analysis will accompany the purchase. Helmets like this one are found in small numbers throughout the Celtic world. Neither the Britons nor the Germans had helmets, writes Tacitus, but the Cimbri had helmets like the maws of frightful beasts or the heads of animals, with crests that made them look larger than they were (Plutarch, Marius XXV.2). Only in Italy, in the region of the Senones, have helmets similar to this one been found in great numbers, in a style named after the burial ground of Montefortino and characterized by a back peak to protect the neck and a top knob (Aldhouse-Green 1995, 43) - see, for instance, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/684492?searchField=All&sortBy=Relevance&ft=celtic+helmet&offset=0&rpp=20&pos=1. Montefortino helmets were produced in the late 4th–early 3rd century BC in Etruria, and there is general scholarly consensus on the fact that they were probably inspired by Celtic prototypes such as our item. Aspects of the Celtic helmet designs were adopted in the Roman legionary helmet of the first century AD (Aldhouse-Green 1995, 44). To find out more about Celtic helmets and their evolution, see Aldhouse-Green, M. J. (1995). The Celtic world. London; New York: Routledge, 43-44. Size: L:140mm / W:245mm; 1.7kg. Provenance: Property of a European collector, formerly acquired from Mr. J. Salz in 2014 in Dortmund, Germany.