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拍品专文
This helmet is an elegant expression of the early Chalcidian type. Its dynamic form features a carinated ridge around the dome that rises to a peak above the forehead. The rounded check-guards and thin nose-guard permit a broad opening for the eyes. The top of the dome preserves the remains of a crest-holder, and soldering around the perimeter indicates a now-missing decorative band. Notably, the brow features a striking horn-shaped motif.
Helmets of this type have been found across the ancient Mediterranean, including from sites as far afield as Targovishte, Bulgaria, Olympia and Sicily (see Hixenbaugh, op. cit., p. 454). For a nearly identical example from Olympia, see p. 61, no. 17 in P. Connolly, Greece and Rome at War.
Of interest is the horned-shaped repoussé line above the eyes. While traditionally thought to represent stylized eyebrows, more recent scholarship has challenged this notion. As Hixenbaugh notes (op. cit., p. 223), the Greek bronze smith occasionally included recognizable facial hair on helmets, indicating that the realistic reproduction of hair, including eyebrows, was possible. In contrast, Hixenbaugh writes, “these curvilinear lines…do not give one the impression of eyebrows. Rather they look like abstract thin curled horns. It is much more likely they represent ram or bull horns. They also suggest the horns of the god Pan, who was thought to spread panic on the battlefield. Like the charging bull, the tenacious bucking of caprids would have been familiar to anyone close to the land.”
Helmets of this type have been found across the ancient Mediterranean, including from sites as far afield as Targovishte, Bulgaria, Olympia and Sicily (see Hixenbaugh, op. cit., p. 454). For a nearly identical example from Olympia, see p. 61, no. 17 in P. Connolly, Greece and Rome at War.
Of interest is the horned-shaped repoussé line above the eyes. While traditionally thought to represent stylized eyebrows, more recent scholarship has challenged this notion. As Hixenbaugh notes (op. cit., p. 223), the Greek bronze smith occasionally included recognizable facial hair on helmets, indicating that the realistic reproduction of hair, including eyebrows, was possible. In contrast, Hixenbaugh writes, “these curvilinear lines…do not give one the impression of eyebrows. Rather they look like abstract thin curled horns. It is much more likely they represent ram or bull horns. They also suggest the horns of the god Pan, who was thought to spread panic on the battlefield. Like the charging bull, the tenacious bucking of caprids would have been familiar to anyone close to the land.”