VIKING IRON HELMET WITH CHAINMAIL

Ca. 900-1100 AD. Viking. A conical iron helmet with small hinged cheek pieces and an extended chainmail neck guard. The original chainmail is attached to the rear with large butted rings and it helped to deflect a blow to the back of the head and neck. Helmets of this general profile are a long-lived military fashion commencing in the Black Sea region since the 7th century AD. It was employed across Europe from the Migration Period through to the 12th century AD and it is this form that appears on the heads of English and Norman warriors in the Bayeux tapestry. Good condition; custom-made stand included. For more information on Viking helmets, see Hubbard, B. (2016) The Viking Warrior. Amber Books Ltd, London, 224-227.Size: L:300mm / W:220mm ; 935g. Provenance: Property of a European collector, previously acquired from a gallery in Brussels; formerly sold in Sydney, Australia, in 1976; formerly in collection of Mt. V. Hendrck, 1929-2007.