MAGNA GRAECIA, HELLENISTIC PERIOD, CIRCA 300-200 B.C.

This elaborate Chalcidian helmet is an extraordinary testament to the craftsmanship and ingenuity of the ancient Greek bronze smith. While the high integral crest recalls helmets of the Phrygian type (named for its resemblance to the leather cap with a forward inclined apex worn by Phrygian and Thracian peoples), Hixenbaugh (op. cit., p. 141) notes that "the design and method of construction were quite different" between the types and were developed independently of one another. Specifically, Phrygian helmets, almost exclusively found in Thrace (modern-day Bulgaria), feature a lower border that is both recessed and flanged outward to form a short visor and cheek-guards of anatomical form that mimics the moustache and beard of the solider. In comparison, this helmet is essentially a flamboyant variation of the Chalcidian type, with its basic form enhanced by the addition of a crest.

The helmet crest is separately-made, spiked along its length, in the manner employed for depictions of griffins. There is additional repoussé ornamentation over the brow and to the sides of the neck-guard and, most notably, attachments in the form of wings above the cheek-guards. For a similar example in Florence but with a wave-like design along the crest and with the addition of repoussé griffins on the cheek-guards, see pp. 652-653 in G. Pugliese Carratelli, ed., The Western Greeks. According to L. Lepore (p. 653 in Pugliese Carratelli, ed., op. cit.), the addition of the griffins on that helmet “could be attributed with a apotropaic significance perhaps combined with protective qualities.” The griffin crest and wings on the present helmet also likely conferred similar protective abilities.