Roman Kalkriese Type Mask from a Cavalry Helmet

Deaccessioned at Christie's New York, Arms and Armour from the Mougins Museum of Classical Art sales, the 30th January 2024. Probably from a helmet of Weiler/Koblenz-Bubenheim type Said to come from the Danube regions, and of unusual interest to military history because it is the only published mask of such quality with so clear an inscription. Forged iron overlaid with tinned sheet brass, the beardless face with eye, nostril and mouth openings and sculpted in considerable detail, four large holes on the forehead and two similar ones under the chin, the forehead hinge in form of a sheet-iron eyelet with a riveted copper-eyelet repair, and along the right edge a struck inscription: 'TVR PAVLI / FUSCI', meaning either "Paulus' Horse troop, property of Fuscius", or "Paulus Fuscius' horse troop" (turma, horse troop or squadron), translated by Günther E. Thüry.