CHRISTIE'S TO SELL RARE CROSBY GARRETT HELMET

THE AUCTION OF ANTIQUITIES ON 7.OCTOBER AT CHRISTIE'S SOUTH KENSINGTON WILL BE OFFERING AN EXCEPTIONAL SURVIVAL FROM ROMAN BRITAIN DISCOVERED BY A METAL DETECTORIST. DISCOVERED IN CUMBRIA, IN MAY 2010, THE CROSBY GARRETT HELMET DATES FROM THE LATE 1st-2nd CENTURY AD AND IS ONE OF ONLY THREE COMPARABLE EXAMPLES EVER TO HAVE BEEN DISCOVERED IN THE UNITED KINGDOM COMPLETE WITH FACE-MASK IN THE LAST 250 YEARS, AND IT HAS A PRE-AUCTION ESTIMATE OF £200,000 to £300,000. WITH ITS ENIGMATIC FEATURES, THE CROSBY GARRETT HELMET IS AN EXTRAORDINARY EXAMPLE OF ROMAN METALWORK AT ITS ZENITH. IT IS ONE OF ONLY THREE THAT HAVE BEEN DISCOVERED IN BRITAIN COMPLETE WITH FACE-MASKS, THE OTHERS BEING THE RIBCHESTER HELMET, FOUND IN 1796 AND NOW IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM, AND THE NEWSTEAD HELMET, IN THE MUSEUM OF ANTIQUITIES, EDINBURGH, FOUND CIRCA 1905. THE CROSBY GARRETT HELMET SETS ITSELF APART BY VIRTUE OF ITS BEAUTY, WORKMANSHIP AND COMPLETENESS, PARTICULARLY THE FACE-MASK, WHICH WAS FOUND VIRTUALLY INTACT. IN ADDITION, THE REMARKABLE PHRYGIAN-STYLE PEAK SURMOUNTED BY ITS ELABORATE BRONZE GRIFFIN CREST APPEARS UNPRECEDENTED.