The Crosby Garrett helmet

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

Wow, lets hope the auctioneer is pretty then....that many kisses could be draining..lol (hmmm thought you wrote smakeroos tho start with there)

The griffin look ok actually. Why do people have a problem with it?

[Caratacus]

Wow, lets hope the auctioneer is pretty then....that many kisses could be draining..lol

The griffin look ok actually. Why do people have a problem with it?

Er .... spackeroos? Sorry, that should have been SMACKEROOS (exit, stage left, muttering .....)

Mike Thomas
(Caratacus)

[mcbishop]

The griffin look ok actually. Why do people have a problem with it?

It's a taste thing - most 3rd-century equipment suffers from a good-taste bypass and falls into the class of what I term Nightmare Bling. Just my humble opinion, of course ;-) ) as a 1st-century sort of chap.

why does Archaeology always make the mistake of putting it's base as being Corbridge when in fact it's home was Hexham

It's a hypothesis, but one that still lacks proof ;-) )

Meanwhile, back at the helmet front, the story has broken on the Beeb - quote of the day:

It is believed that Romans wore the helmets as a mark of rank or excellence in horsemanship.

Or perhaps even in the Hippika Gymnasia?! Oh boy... :roll:

Mike Bishop

[D B Campbell]

It is believed that Romans wore the helmets as a mark of rank or excellence in horsemanship.

Or even to stop nasty pointy things sticking in your head and spoiling your day? :roll:

[Carus Andiae]

The BBC 10pm News says it was used for displays and parades. It's certainly impressive, if not quite to my taste! If I empty my bank account I can afford about 1/60th of it. I fear it's going overseas, though.

[jho]

To return to the Crosby Garrett helmet:

There is another close parallel to the rear part of this helmet in the Boston Museum of Fine Art (accession no. 1979.41):

[url:9ryydasq]http://www.mfa.org/collections/search_art.asp[/url]

It is referred to as Parthian but does not appear to have a precise provenance.

Does anybody have any additional information on this helmet?

[Caballo]

Tullie House Museum have just launched an appeal http://www.tulliehouse.co.uk/romanhelmetappeal


Tullie House Museum bid to buy Roman helmet
Sep 14 2010 by Tony Henderson, The Journal
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A MUSEUM last night launched an appeal to keep a Roman helmet in the North after it was unearthed by a metal detector enthusiast.

The Roman cavalry parade helmet was unearthed in the north Cumbrian hamlet of Crosby Garrett and is one of only three to have been discovered in Britain complete with face mask in the last 250 years.

It will be auctioned at Christie’s in London on October 7 where it is estimated to fetch between £200,000 and £300,000.

Last night, Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery in Carlisle launched an urgent public and corporate appeal to help to secure the helmet as a centrepiece for its £1.5m Roman Frontier: Stories Beyond Hadrian’s Wall gallery, due to open next summer.

According to Roman records, men of high rank or superior horsemanship wore gilded helmets at cavalry sports parades to draw the attention of spectators.

Unlike helmets made for active service, they were made to fit all round the faces of the riders, with apertures for the eyes.

The polished white metal surface of the face mask would have provided a striking contrast to the original golden-bronze colour of the hair and cap.

In addition, colourful streamers may have been attached to the rings along the back ridge and on the griffin crest.
In the development of its collections, Tullie House prioritises artefacts that are judged to be of high importance to the local heritage and to ensure that items remain in or are returned to Cumbria.

Georgiana Aitken, head of antiquities at Christie’s, said: “This helmet is the discovery of a lifetime for a metal detectorist.

“When it was initially brought to Christie’s and I examined it, I saw this extraordinary face from the past staring back at me and I could scarcely believe my eyes. This is a hugely important discovery and we expect considerable interest at the auction where it is sure to generate great excitement from museums and collectors alike.”

Dr Ralph Jackson, senior curator of Romano-British Collections at the British Museum, said: “The face mask of the Cumbria helmet is extremely finely wrought and chillingly striking. It is a find of the greatest importance.

“As a most powerful symbol of the might of Rome, it is a star display piece which could hardly be more appropriate to the collections, galleries and curatorial expertise of Carlisle’s Tullie House Museum.

“It is vital that the museum secures it.”

Companies and individuals wishing to pledge their support to the helmet appeal should telephone Tullie House on 01228 618743 or join the Tullie House Facebook group on the internet.

[Decebalus]

The Boston-helmet looks Roman to me, because the shape of the lower border is very similar to the Crosby Garrett-helmet - I wonder if it would really could have been worn without a face mask as shown in D. Nicolle's "Rome's Enemies 5 - The Desert Frontier" pl. D 2.
At the lower rear can be seen some curly locks which could have been repeated in the mask's decoration.
The "rose of life" is depicted on the helmet, which is also depicted on the helmet crests of the equites on the Great Traianic friese. Is this symbol also known in other cultures? I'm not shure about this.
This is of course speculative but the Crosby Garrett helmet gives us at least an idea how the masks of the Boston and Vechten helmets could have looked like.
It was mentioned in the previous posts that the helmet looks Bulgarian/of Balcan origin and it is interesting to note that of the six known helmets of the Silistra-Type (to which the mask would belong [in Junkelmann's typology, part of Robinson's CSB]) two are from Bulgaria (Chatalka-CSB12 and Silistra-CSB06), two said to be from Bulgaria (Ex-Guttmann AG 449 and AG 813 [CSB08]), one from Serbia (Smederovo-CSB25) and one from the Netherlands (Roomburgh-CSB07).
So it cannot be ruled out that the Crosby Garrett helmet perhaps was manufactured in Eastern Europe.
At least we now know how different the back parts of the Silistra masks could have been.

Greets,

Andreas Gagelmann

[Bucephalus]

Wow. That really is a striking find. The Hippika Gymnasia sure would have been a lot more challenging with the helmet. I've never personally ridden in anything similar, but I'd imagine it wouldn't help your field of vision, closely fitted though it may have been.

Companies and individuals wishing to pledge their support to the helmet appeal should telephone Tullie House on 01228 618743 or join the Tullie House Facebook group on the internet.

Facebook? I suppose it might be time for my monthly visit.

[Peroni]

Jens wrote..

What I find most unusual in the helmet is the separate attached (cast?) griffon. If found in isolation, it would probably have been identified as a fixture to furniture or a wagon but not as part of a helmet. Is anybody aware of any other Roman helmet with such an attachment?

Perhaps it was originally a furniture fitting?! re-used by the trooper.

Not on a helmet, but similar animal bronzes were found at Vindonissa. (photos at the back of the book. There are two lion/panther ornaments with curved bases that could easily be helmet decoration.

[jho]

Adrian,

Thank you for pointing out the Vindonissa items. Which book are you referring to?

Given that the Ribchester helmet may also have had such an ornament (as indicated in the report on the Crosby Garrett helmet) this is a real possibility.

[Peroni]

Unz, Deschler-Erb 1997 : Ch. Unz, E. Deschler-Erb, Katalog der Militaria aus Vindonissa (Veröff. Ges. Pro Vindonissa 14), Brugg 1997.

[Caratacus]

One is reminded of Bader's Big Wing (as in 'where is Bader's Big Wing?')
The Utterly Elite and Very Mobile Mike Bishop (or TUEVMMB as the military would probably have it ;-) ) )

I thought that was Leigh-Mallory? Maybe they were in it together?

(The not so elite and largely immobile) Mike Thomas
(Caratacus)

[mcbishop]

One is reminded of Bader's Big Wing (as in 'where is Bader's Big Wing?')
The Utterly Elite and Very Mobile Mike Bishop (or TUEVMMB as the military would probably have it ;-) ) )

I thought that was Leigh-Mallory? Maybe they were in it together?

Well, technically a notion of Bader's, based on an idea of Park's, supported by Leigh-Mallory... but there were so many egos sloshing around there who could tell?! Actually, I suspect Italo Balbo (a man who was ultimately shot down by his own side) is to thank (oops!). That all reminds me of that David Divine book about Hadrian's Wall of many years ago (to wrestle with the control column of topicality and drag things back into line...), with elaborate diagrams of how many cavalry could get to any given point at any time, to which ala Petriana were key (and presumably a 'beauty chorus' moving little blocks around on a large map of the Tyne/Solway isthmus). Good job our ideas of the distant past are never based on our (comparatively) recent history!

Mike Bishop

[Caballo]

Back on topic, heres a zoomable picture of the helmet that I will have hours of fun with...At this stage from front only.

http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/lot_ ... 088ccf6e6c

http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/Zoom ... 4/d5358441