Is this late Roman helmet sheathing??

[Peroni]

I spotted this on the big auction site last night.. It's silver gilt and is being sold as 'armour' Looks a lot like the gilt sheathing seen on some late Roman helmets to me! (Like the Deurne helmet.)

What do you think?

[Nerva]

It's possible, but without seeing the actual shape of the piece it's impossible to tell. The corners on the design do look square which may suggest it's true shape may be flad rather than curved to line a helmet.

[Peroni]

The corners on the design do look square which may suggest it's true shape may be flad rather than curved to line a helmet.

If you look at the sheathing detail on the Deurne helmet, it too has right-angled decoration..

[Nerva]

True, but as I said, without getting a good look at it it's hard to tell what it is.

[Robert Vermaat]

I spotted this on the big auction site last night.. It's silver gilt and is being sold as 'armour' Looks a lot like the gilt sheathing seen on some late Roman helmets to me! (Like the Deurne helmet.)

I would answer that with an unequivocal 'yes it's maybe possible'. :wink:

The decoration makes me think of the Augsburg-Pfersee helmets.

But I could not say if this item is orginal or not. I mean, how difficult would it be to make a sheet of metal like this, decorate it and then fold it up? If you're likely to sell it for thousands of euros, the production costs would not be very high, considering. The only way to test this for authenticity (I assume) is to look for traces of organic material still attached to it (the glue which should have attached it to the iron core would be a good clue), or traces of ancient tools, insofar as these can't be mimicked by modern ones.

Difficult.

[Celer]

Salve,

I bought one of the earlier pieces and it looks very kosher. There was another piece which clearly had the cut-out for the ear recess, but I lost that bid. I wonder if either the dealer has a complete helmet which he is selling off bit by bit to maximise profits, or whether he has an inside line to a whole hoards of these things. There are traces of solder and rust staining on the inside as well.

Celer.

[Caballo]

"if either the dealer has a complete helmet which he is selling off bit by bit to maximise profits" :evil: :evil: :evil:

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

If he does, maybe someone should kick his a.... literally!

[Nerva]

Unfortunately, some reproduction work is very good and the flaws are not always obvious. The only real way to authenticate such items is by ASA when the provenience is unknown.

I have full access to a mass spectrometer, PEET microscope and a TEM if you ever need metallic objects authenticated - ok, I cant actually authenticate them but I can give you the ASA. Send me a small sample, say 3x3mm and I'll get the results in less than 24hrs.