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mini bronze helmet with Greek key design
£35.00
A lovely miniature with a Greek key design on its crest. Mounted on a marble base. Height including the marble base: 12cm (please allow for a few millimetres either way)
quantity
about the bronzes in this collection
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. |
about the helmets
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 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 or the sphinx.
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! The crested ones are cast in two pieces, then the 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.
about the Greek key meandros motif
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.