11th-12th century AD. A Norman or Cuman four-plate iron helmet constructed from curved triangular sections converging at the apex; the bowl contoured so that the front and back plates overlap the side-plates by 1-2cm with iron rivets passing through this overlap to secure them in position; the rivets worked flat into the surface of the helmet, almost invisible from the outside but detectable on the inner surface; the plate-junction at the apex with a small tip, allowing a plume or horsehair streamer to be inserted through a now closed ring; two parallel side rivets, possibly for the attachment of cheek-pieces; accompanied by a custom-made display stand. See Curtis, H.M., 2,500 Years of European Helmets, North Hollywood, 1978; Denny, N., & Filmer-Sankey, J., The Bayeux Tapestry, London, 1966; Kirpicnikow, A. N., Russische Helme aus dem Frühen Mittelalter, Waffen- und Kostamkunde, 3rd Series, Vol.15, pt.2, 1973; Nicolle, D., Byzantine and Islamic arms and armour; evidence for mutual influence, [in:] Warriors and their weapons around the time of the Crusades, relationship between Byzantium, the West and the Islamic world, Padstow, 2002, pp.299-325; Menghin, W., The Merovingian Period - Europe Without Borders, Berlin, 2007, pp.326-7, item I.34.4; D’Amato, R., ‘Old and new evidence on East-Roman helmets from the 9th to the 12th centuries,’ in Acta Militaria Mediaevalia, 2015, XI, pp.27-157, fig.23, nn.1-2 and pl.1. 1.4 kg total, helmet: 20.5cm (8"). Property of a London gallery; formerly acquired in Germany before 2015; originally in a 1980s Austrian collection; accompanied by an academic report by military expert Dr. Raffaele D’Amato; this lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by AIAD certificate number no.10870-178853. Helmets of this general profile and with some form of conical crest are a long-lived military fashion in the Black Sea region, and appear in designs on the bone of a Khazar saddle of 7th-8th century date from the Shilovskiy grave field (Samara region); a similar helmet (of presumed 5th century AD date, but probably later) is housed in the St. Petersburg Museum (inventory reference PA72), previously in the MVF Berlin until 1945 (under inventory ref. IIId 1789i); D’Amato (2015, pp.65ff.) proposed to be of an Eastern-Roman origin of this typology, based on the interchange of the Roman and Khazar military technology. The so called rivetted-plate construction, known across Europe from the Migration Period through to the 12th century AD, appears on to be worn by the English and Norman warriors in the 'Bayeux tapestry' (Nicolle, 2002a, 308-309; 2002b, Pl. VIII:A-E"). The typology of these Steppe helmets is visible in specimens of a 12th-13th century date in the Cuman graves of the Black Sea Region, in Cuman graves from Anatolia (probably mercenaries of the Roman army) and in the Mongol armies of 13th century AD. [A video of this lot is available to view on Timeline Auctions Website] Condition Report Fair condition.