small bronze helmet with Greek key crest

Height of helmet including base: 14.5cm Width of helmet at widest point: 4cm

The prototype for these glorious helmets is the plain, uncrested Corinthian style of the 6th century BC. Originals of these can be seen in museums across the world. Those in the Goulandris Collection in the Museum of Cycladic Art in Athens, and in the Museum of Ancient Olympia are the inspiration for this collection.

The motifs on the crests are either geometric designs or symbolic creatures.

Original helmets are much thinner and lighter than these, and the largest 'life-size' copies are also smaller than the circumference of today's average male head. They are most definitely not to be worn! Where mounted, they are on a marble base.

The bronze pieces are cast in Greece using the traditional lost wax method. As nothing is mass-produced, there will inevitably be slight variations in texture, patina, and colour. No two pieces are ever the same. If mounted on a marble base, it will be a black or very dark grey base. There may be a variation of some millimetres in the dimensions of the base from time to time.

It's All Greek is proud to have been working with the Semitekolo family foundry since 1999. It has been a privilege to handle these gorgeous pieces and to sell them to customers all over the world.

The Greek key, meandros or meander motif appears throughout ancient Greek art, from the Geometric period onwards. A symbol of eternity and of the eternal flow of things, it is also thought to represent the maze, and the eternal quest for truth.

In its most basic form, it is a linear pattern, composed of a long, continuous line, like the winding course of the river Maeander in Asia Minor. Some say that the twisting pattern mimics the serpent, symbol of guardianship and healing