full size bronze helmet with griffin crest

The prototype for these glorious helmets is the plain, uncrested Corinthian style of the 6th century BCE. 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, created by the late Kostas Semitekolo.

The motifs on the crests are either geometric designs, such as the Greek key meandros motif, or symbolic creatures such as the griffin, the sphinx, or the serpent.

Original helmets are much thinner and lighter than these, and the largest 'life-size' copies here are also smaller than the circumference of today's average male head. They are most definitely not to be worn! The crested ones are cast in two pieces, then the separately cast crest is inserted. If you look inside the helmets, you can often see the marks left by the wax during the casting process. Where mounted, they are on a solid marble base.

A note about variations in height if the helmet is on a base: As they are not mass produced, the little (fixed) pole in the smaller size helmets can vary in height up to 2cm either way. If you need a specific height, email me before you order! The larger helmets have a detachable pole which is (usually!) the same height. The marble base can also vary in dimensions, but only by millimetres.

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 so grateful and so proud to have been working closely with the Semitekolo family foundry since 1999. It has been a privilege and a joy to handle, live with, and photograph these gorgeous pieces and to pass them on to customers all over the world.

Symbol of wealth and prosperity and guardians of prized possessions, the mythical hybrid griffin had powerful wings, the body of a lion and the beak of an eagle.

Griffins were sacred to Apollo, whose treasure they guarded. They are also associated with Dionysos, as the guardians of his ever-flowing supply of wine.

Bronze cauldrons set on tripods were among the most spectacular votive gifts dedicated in Greek sanctuaries from the eighth to the sixth centuries BCE. A cast bronze griffin head, called a protome, often formed part of the decoration of these cauldrons.

Over six hundred such bronze griffin heads are on display in museums all over the world. Many have been found at the sanctuary of Zeus at Olympia and at that of Hera on Samos.