Bronze helmet with hinged ear-guards and lion-head badge.

Collection type: Object
Description: Bronze helmet with hinged ear-guards and lion-head badge.
Long description: Ancient Roman bronze helmet with hinged ear-guards and lion-head badge. Generally the helmet appears as described in The Armour of Imperial Rome, by H. Russell Robinson (1975) see below. There is no knob at the top but a hole with a broken edge, suggesting that the knob could have been broken off. The ear guards have four rivets securing the rolled over edge of metal that forms the tube for the hinge. Three of the rivets have domed protruding heads but the head of the rivet nearest the back of the helmet is flush with the surface. The ear guard on the (wearer's) right hand side has a stud as described in Fig. 19 on page 17 of The Armour of Imperial Rome, by H. Russell Robinson (1975). The ear guard on the (wearer's) left hand side has a stud as described in Fig. 20 on page 17 of The Armour of Imperial Rome, by H. Russell Robinson (1975) [Further Conservators Description - RP 18/12/2002].
Geographical reference: Europe
Europe; Unknown
Person: Maker Unknown Maker; Field collector Unknown Collector; PRM source Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt Rivers founding collection
Date / Period: Date made: 450-350 BC Archaeological period: Roman
Date collected: By 1879 July
Acquisition information: Donated: 1884
Materials and processes: Material Bronze Metal, Process Incised
Dimensions: Length 237 mm skull, Width 185 mm skull, Height 155 mm skull, Length 135 mm ear guards, Width 110 mm ear guards
Object numbers: Accession number: 1884.32.14 PR no.: 3/ 9689
Research and responses: Dealers in London and France, formed by Claude Camille Rollin (1813-1883) and Felix Feuardent [1819-1907]. NB this misspelling occurs in all catalogues it appears, even in BM documentation, see biographies for more information [AP 06/08/2009]
In a letter dated 6 April 2002, Dr John Riley points out the same problems with this object as those pointed out by Fernando Quesada Sanz in 1989 (see above); see correspondence between Riley and Jeremy Coote in RDF. [JC 2 5 2002]
For a general account of this type of helmet, see page 16 of The Armour of Imperial Rome, by H. Russell Robinson (1975): 'Montefortino A: A bronze helmet with a skull worked from one piece of metal, the form tending to be bulbous and drawn up at the apex to terminate in a hemispherical knob generally decorated with a scale pattern. In some instances, the knob is undecorated and inclined to be conical with a flattened top. The lower rim is drawn out into a sloping neck-guard at the back, and the edge is "knocked back" and given a half-round section. The bold border is generally given a cabled finish; and above it, across the brow and on the neck guard, are filed horizontal lines and flutings. The rings attached on the inside of the neck-guard as a third point of attachment for the chin-strap are usually fastened with a large iron rivet; and the hinge plates for carrying the check-pieces are secured on the inside, in the region of the temples, with two small bronze rivets. The cheek-pieces, also of bronze, do not always survive. They are usually of very thick metal with the edge worked into a raised lip, the upper edge rolled inwards to form the other half of the hinge and secured with from three to five rivets. They are cusped in the forward edge on a line with the eyes and mouth, the rear edge following the line of the jaw. Bronze hooks are riveted on the inside of the lower edge with ball terminals curving outwards for attaching a chin-strap.' There are illustrative photographs and drawings on pages 15 and 16. [AP; JC 28 11 2002]
Associated publications: Illustrated in colour as Figure 16.7 on page 350 of 'Iron Age and Roman Italy', by Zena Kamash, Lucy Shipley, Yannis Galanakis and Stella Skaltsa, in World Archaeology at the Pitt Rivers Museum: A Characterization, edited by Dan Hicks and Alice Stevenson (Oxford: Archaeopress, 2013), pp. 336-357. Caption (same page): 'Figure 16.7 Roman period bronze helmet with hinged ear-guards and lion-head bade, from the Pitt Rivers Museum founding collection (PRM Accession Number 1884.32.14). This object was purchased by General Pitt-Rivers from dealers Claude Camille Rollin and Felix Feuarden before 1879'. [MJD 30/06/2014]

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