of domed form, with finial or plume holder at the crown, slightly oval shape, composed of inner iron elements and outer gilded copper elements, external structure composed of a copper summit disc held in place by six small domed copper rivets, one of which is missing, six inverted T-shaped pieces of copper sheet cennected to the disc, attached to the inner segments by fifteen small domed copper rivets, lower rim band decorated with embossed decoration consisting of double-branched vines, each with two large bunches of grapes, with two birds flying above and two birds on the ground beneath, the rest of the helmet with punched decoration comprising birds, animals, human figures, a tree and cross motif

Reportedly found in the Caucasus region in the 1920s, together with the preceding lot, lot 122.
European private collection since the early 1970s

In fairly good overall condition, inner iron elements very corroded, though still largely intact,
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This beautiful and remarkably well preserved helmet is a major addition to those Baldenheim-style segmented spangenhelmes so far known to exist.  The two contrasting forms of decoration on its rim- or brow-band and on its frame and segments will also be of interest to historians of early medieval art.  The helmet's reported place of finding or excavation remains to be confirmed, but if it does prove to be from the Caucasus or from an immediately neighbouring region, this fact could be of considerable importance in the military and socio-political history of the early medieval period.

physical description

The helmet lacks the cheek protections which formed part of many other Baldenheim-style segmented helmets.  One may assume that this helmet originally had such additional elements but that they have been lost, perhaps before it was interred, almost certainly in the grave of a high status person.  As it currently exists, the helmet, including its finial or plume-holder, is 19.6 cm tall.  Its plan is not entirely round and this shape was probably original, rather than resulting from pressure after burial, as a slightly oval shape is more suited to the average man's head.  Hence the external width of the helmet from side-to-side of the head is now 20.2 cm, while its external length from front-to-back of the head is 22.1 cm.

The basic structure of the helmet consists of inner iron elements, plus outer gilded copper elements.  To describe the former as the basic helmet and the latter as a decorated "cladding" would, however, be incorrect, because the entire structure depends upon the integrity of all its elements, iron and copper, which are held together with rivets.  No individual piece, except for the plume-holder and of course the gilded layer which originally covered the whole helmet, could have been removed without compromising the strength of the whole.  Despite the external appearance of this form of helmet, it is almost as misleading to describe some of its elements as forming a "frame" to which the other elements were added to "fill the gaps".

The inner iron elements are very corroded, though still largely intact.  They consists of two very rusted rim-bands and six similarly corroded vertical iron segments.  There is, however, no overlapping of the main vertical segments and no visible vertical frame.  Each of the iron segments is leaf-shaped and each appears to be attached to the iron rim-band by a single iron rivet.  Where visible, the lower parts of each leaf-shaped segment has a slightly recurving extension, almost like the beginning of the "stem" of the "leaf", which is where each such leaf is riveted to the iron rim-band.  This basic iron structure clearly leaves regular and sometimes quite substantial gaps through which, when viewed from the inside of the helmet, the copper elements of the outer shell are visible. 

The iron rim-band or bands consists of a narrow inner band to which the iron leaves seem to be riveted.  Outside this, and visible to a similar width, is what appears to be a lower rim-band, the upper edge of which corresonds with the upper edge of the brow-band as seen from the outside of the helmet.  However, the inner band may actually consist of six strips which merely tuck under the leaves, while the latter may in reality be riveted to the outer band.  Extensive corrosion means that this cannot be stated with certainty until further cleaning and consolidation are undertaken.  Where complete and least corroded, the width of the outer or lower rim-band is 3.3 cm, as measured on the exterior of the helmet.  This outer rim- or brow-band clearly consists of one strip of iron overlapping itself by about 1.4 cm where it is riveted at the back of the helmet. 

The outer elements are made of copper and consist of an apparent "frame", to the inner surfaces of which copper "segments" are riveted.  The "frame" is not, however, anywhere visible from the interior of the helmet.  Meanwhile the copper "segments" apparently butt against each other on the outside of the inner iron "leaves", without any overlap.  The divisions between them are nevertheless only visible from the interior at the very summit of the helmet.  The only exception to this is where one of the inner iron leaves is so corroded that the area of its single lower rivet is missing, thus exposing the curved lower edge of a copper sheet forming one of the "segments", where a single empty rivet hole can also be seen.  This exposed area is just half a segment clockwise from the overlapping of the main rim-band at the rear of the helmet.  Here it is important to note that this copper "segment" is made of quite thin sheet, which suggests that the protective capability of the helmet depended upon the structural integrity of the whole - which may have had some shock-absorbant "give" - rather than on the blow-resisting strength of each metal element.

The external structure consists of a copper summit disc or plate held in place by six small domed copper rivets, one of which is missing.  Inserted through this summit plate is a plume holder. This in turn consists of a small sheet of copper which has been rolled into a tube, inserted into a hole through the summit-plate then held in place by having its lower end slightly beaten over.  A small gilded copper or bronze bird (detached) exists which can be inserted into the tube. Such bird or animal-shaped finials were often shown in early medieval wall-paintings and other art-sources from Central Asia, whereas pictorial sources from further west tended to show plumes, either of horse-hair or perhaps feathers.  The bird-shaped decoration could be interpreted as evidence for Turkish or other Central Asian military and stylistic influence in the Caucasus region at the time when this helmet, perhaps by then already quite old, was placed in the grave of a senior personage.    

What superficially appears to be an outer frame consists six inverted T-shaped pieces of copper sheet.  Perhaps rather surprisingly, these do not go under the rim-band but butt against it, and against each other.  Each is attached to the "segments" beneath by fifteen small domed copper rivets.  Only one of the latter is missing, leaving the hole mentioned above in connection with the shape of the copper leaves when viewed from inside the helmet.  The copper "segments" which lie beneath, and fill the spaces between, the T-shaped copper elements of the outer "frame" have bulged outwards in several places and in some cases split as a result of pressure caused by the severe corrosion of the iron leaves beneath them.  This damage also shows that these copper leaves are made of notably thinner sheet than the T-shaped copper elements of the supposed "frame". 

The lower or outer iron rim-band is of course more corroded and consquently more damaged than the copper elements.  This has resulted in extensive distortion of the thin layer of decoratively embossed copper with which it is covered.  Nevertheless it is clear that the outer iron rim-band, including its decorative copper layer, overlaps itself and was held together with three small domed copper rivets at the back of the helmet, though one of these rivets is now missing.  The outer rim-band also appears to be riveted to the inner and slightly higher rim- or brow-band by a small number of surprisingly widely spaced small domed copper rivets.  Only four are still visible, though there may originally have been others whose positions are obscured by corrosion and superficial damage. 

decoration

In addition to the small bird-shaped gilded copper or bronze finial described above, all the outer surfaces of this helmet are, or were originally, gilded.  The result is truly magnificent and must have made its wearer look very impressive.  This, plus the relative weakness of the helmet from a practical point of view, might suggest that it was originally more of a parade than a practical defence.  Even ignoring the gilding and surface decoration, the abundance of relatively expensive copper and the limited use of cheaper iron also points in that direction.

The decoration on the outer layer of the rim- or brow-band is in a Late Classical, Mediterranean, early Byzantine or indeed Umayyad early Islamic style which is entirely different from all the other decoration on the helmet.  It is a feature which this remarkable helmet shares with most of the other so-called Baldenheim spangenhelmes.  Indeed it could be said that this helmet is amongst those in which the contrast between the two styles of decoration is at its most pronounced, with the decoration of its brow-band being amongst the most sophisticated, most Classical and most Byzantino-Syrian.  It is also important to note that this layer or strip of gilded copper is embossed, and hence its decorative motifs were beaten from the inside before the copper strip itself was attached to the brow-band of the helmet.

The essentially Byzantine decorative scheme consists of five panels which have no overall relationship with the six basic elements of the supposed frame.  Nevertheless, these five panels fit the overall length of the brow-band extremely well, which suggests that the decorative copper band was always intended for a helmet for a man with a normal-sized head, though not necessarily for this particular helmet.  Each decorative panel consists of an elongated rectangle framed by a line of small, closely-spaced and embossed dots.  Within each rectangle are stylized vines and birds.  The similarity between this and some decorations found in Umayyad art from Syria and Egypt is remarkable, though the latter are of course closely related to Byzantine decoration of the same and slightly earlier years.  Each rectangle contains three double-branched vines, each with two large bunches of grapes.  Each such vine then has two birds flying above it and two birds on the ground beneath.  There is also an "infill" decoration of a simple ring-and-central-dot motif above and between the vines, plus simple "end-pieces" consisting of three such linked ring-and-central-dots.

Amongst the almost complete and the fragmentary helmets included in Mahand Vogt's study of Baldenheim and related spangenhelmes, published in 2006, are several whose brow-bands are very similar to the example discussed here.  One is in Slovakia (Dolnic Semerovce no. I) which is now in the Slovakian National Museum, Bratislava, another from an unknown location is now in the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, while a third from Giulianovo in central Italy is now in the Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin (inv. W1001).  However, the closest parallels are found on those from Planig in Rheinland-Pfalz which is now in the Mittelrheinisches Landesmuseum, Mainz, and from Stössen in Sachsen-Anhalt which is now in the Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte, Halle.

The lower edge of the brow-band is very corroded but enough remains to show that there was a close row of holes, most of which are now filled with rust.  These were presumably to attach a lining, but probably not for a mail aventail.  These holes are not particularly well made, nor are they as regularly aligned as the decorative rectangles with their enclosed pattern of vines and birds.  On average the holes are a little over one centimetre apart.

The decoration on the rest of the helmet is made by "pecking" with at least two different forms of punch or comparable tool.  The resulting marks are closely spaced to form lines, or are used to "fill" a defined area.  It is also interesting to note that those individual "pecks" which are on the "segments" or leaves consist of very short lines or indentations.  In contrast the "pecks" on the inverted T-shapes of the external "frame" are made with a different tool, resulting in very small circular indentations arranged in a series of closely spaced lines which form what might be described as "shaded shapes". 

The use of two such forms of differing tools is a feature which this helmet shares with many other so-called Baldenheim spangenhelmes, and indeed with a few other slightly different helmets from roughly the same early medieval period.  Mahand Vogt grouped the intendations or punched decorations on all such helmets into ten types.  The indentations on the "segments" of this helmet seem to fall into Vogt's Punztyp H, being most similar to those seen on a helmet in the Hungarian National Museum, Budapest (no. 5).  In contrast the tiny circular indentations on the "frame" are comparable to Vogt's Punztyp C ("Einfache  Kreispunzen") and D ("Perlpunzen").  Both of these are much more commonly found than Punztyp H. 

The "shaded shapes" largely consist of triangles, but the areas in the centres of the four T-shapes contain more elaborate patterns.  These are a Christian Cross above the brow of the helmet, a bird to the left of the Cross when seen from the front of the helmet, what might be a "tent" on the second T to the left from the Cross, and a simple tree with a broadened trunk on the rear T.  A doubled variation of the presumed "tent" motif is repeated at the top of leaf-segment 3 (see below), to the left of the T-shaped frame element with a Christian Cross.

All these motifs are believed to have been taken from Christian symbolism, though some are obviously easier to interpret than others.  They can be seen on various other helmets of the Baldenheim type, most obviously that from Giulianova.  The "Eagle and fish" motif caught Mahand Vogt's interest to such an extent that he devoted several pages to this subject.  The following motifs are found on the main leaf-shaped segments, numbered from the rear of the helmet clockwise when seen from above.
1.  A lion followed by two horned animals, one looking like a bearded goat, plus two trees with broadened trunks.  The uppermost tree has thirteen branches shown as lines of dots while the lower tree has seven thicker branches or leaves shown as elongated loops.  At the very bottom of the scene is a third shrub-like plant whose twelve or so branches emerge directly from the ground.  This part of the panel is also damaged.  Perhaps the scene illustrates "the lion laying down with the lamb".
2.  A youthful and unbearded man, probably Christ, above a Cross, two fishes, a horned animal which probably represents a sheep, and small stylized flower or plant motifs.
3.  An apparent tent with two pitched roofs or two tents against each other, above a lamb or deer which is looking backwards towards two pursuing animals.  The latter are clearly distinguished from one another and might represent a wolf and a bear.  The apparent "tent" might actually represent a "citadel" or place of refuge.  There is also a simple branched plant at the bottom of the scene.
4.  A bird which does not have the hooked beak of a bird of prey and might therefore represent a dove, above three fishes, one eight-pointed star or spark, and an unsaddled horse
5.  A man, almost certainly a youthful and unbearded Christ or angel with a small cross on top of his head, above two fishes and a bird apparently seizing or eating a third, inverted or dead fish.
6.  A peacock with its tail lowered and trailing, above another bird with a "peaceful" beak, perhaps a dove, above what appears to be a very simplified imperial eagle with its head to the left and its wings outspread.  To the left of these birds are what might be a stylized flower motif, above what could be a shallow cup on a stem with a base.  Beneath these is a simple multi-branched tree whose stem ends with a small triangle, perhaps indicating that it is still planted in the earth rather than being a cut branch.

metallurgical analysis

According to an analysis of the materials from which this helmet is made, by Dr. Peter Northover of the Oxford Materials Characterisation Service, "Little copper contemporary with the proposed dating of the helmet has been analysed but the impurities of this copper are consistent with a variety of ancient and historical copper products." In his analysis, Dr. Peter Northover paid particular attention to this decoration and wrote of the gilding that it was; "typical of a variety of ancient mercury gilding."  Where the corrosion of the gilded copper itself was concerned he reported that; "It is the writer's opinion that the extent and detail of the corrosion can only be the result of long term natural processes in a burial environment and could not have been reproduced artificially."  Furthermore Dr. Northover concluded that; "the compositions of the copper and the gilding are consistent with a date of manufacture prior to the 9th century".  Dr. Northover then summed up his finding by stating that; "More importantly the state of corrosion confirms the antiquity and authenticity of the gilt-copper cladding of the helmet and, by extension, the fragile and fragmentary iron liner."

bibliography

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