AN IRON HELMET OF BYZANTINE/FRANKISH TYPE, 8TH-10TH CENTURY AD

Reference: ART6001019

A semi-spherical helmet of the Spangelhelm type popular with the Byzantines and other armies of western Europe during the later part of the first millennium A.D. The piercings at the rim suggest a curtain of chain mail to protect the back of the head and neck. The type was used and adapted by the Vikings in the run up to their period of ascendancy.
Iron, Frankish/Byzantine 8/10th.c.A.D.
24 by 22 cm.

PROVENANCE
Private collection Austria, before 1990