A Greek tinned bronze Chalcidian helmet
Circa 5th-4th Century B.C.
The domed crown with medial ridge, with contoured double curve above the brow continuing as an occipital rib around the helmet, with pronounced arched brows and narrow flared neck guard, the hinges remaining for the missing cheek-pieces, 25cm high注脚Provenance:
Private collection, England.
with Royal-Athena Galleries (Art of the Ancient World, vol. XV, 2004, no. 55).
UK art market.

For a similar helmet complete with hinged cheek-pieces see The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, acc. no. 54.2468. There is a more elaborate version of the Chalcidian type helmet at the British Museum, acc. no. 1919, 1119.6, which is dated to 450-400 B.C. and was found near Salonika, Macedonia.

The Chalcidian type helmet derives its name from the city of Chalcis in Euboea where the helmets are first seen depicted on pottery thought to come from the city. It is most likely that this type of helmet was derived from the Corinthian form but developed to be lighter with better hearing and vision. Chalcidian helmets were popular throughout the Hellenistic world particularly in Greece during the 5th-4th Centuries. The type was still being worn in the era of Alexander the Great by armoured soldiers such as hoplites.