CHRISTIE'S SELLS CROSBY-GARRETT HELMET FOR £2,281,250

THE CROSBY GARRETT HELMET SOLD RECENTLY AT THE AUCTION OF ANTIQUITIES AT CHRISTIE'S SOUTH KENSINGTON FOR A STAGGERING £2,281,250. THE HISTORIC ARTIFACT WAS ESTIMATED TO SELL FOR £200,000 TO £300,000. AN EXCEPTIONAL SURVIVAL FROM ROMAN BRITAIN, THE HELMET WAS DISCOVERED BY A METAL DETECTORIST IN CUMBRIA IN MAY 2010 AND DATES FROM THE LATE 1st-2nd CENTURY AD. IT WAS BOUGHT BY AN ANONYMOUS TELEPHONE BIDDER. GEOGIANA AITKEM, HEAD OF ANTIQUITIES AT CHRISTIE'S, LONDON, SAID: 'WHEN THE HELMET WAS FIRST BROUGHT TO CHRISTIE'S AND I SAW IT FIRST HAND, I COULD SCARCELY BELIEVE MY EYES. THIS IS AN EXCEPTIONAL OBJECT, AN EXTRAORDINARY AND HAUNTING FACE FROM THE PAST, AND IT HAS CAPTURED THE IMAGINATION AND THE ENTHUSIASM OF EVERYONE WHO HAS COME TO CHRISTIE'S TO ADMIRE IT OVER THE PAST FEW WEEKS. THE UNIVERSAL APPEAL OF THE HELMET SAW IT DRAW INTEREST FROM A DIVERSE GROUP OF BIDDERS OT TODAY'S AUCTION, COLLECTORS OF ANTIQUITIES COMPETED WITH THOSE WHO HAVE MORE OFTEN BOUGHT IN OTHER FIELDS; 3 BY TELEPHONE, 2 IN THE ROOM AND ONE VIA THE INTERNET FROM CALIFORNIA. IT WAS SOLD FOR £2.3 MILLION TO AN ANONYMOUS CLIENT BIDDING BY PHONE.' WITH ITS ENIGMATIC FEATURES, THE CROSBY-GARRETT HELMET IS AN EXTRAORDINARY EXAMPLE OF ROMAN METALWORK AT ITS ZENITH. IT IS ONE OF ONLY THREE ROMAN CAVALRY PARADE HELMETS 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.