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Close helmet: HEN.M.72-1933

Object information

Awaiting location update

Maker(s)

Production: Unknown

Entities

Categories

Description

Close helmet, for use by a cuirassier. Form a skull, a pivoted peak with a separate face-defence, a bevor attached to the skull by the same pivots as the peak, and a single gorget-plate front and rear. The rounded skull is formed in two halves joined by a turn to the right along a low medial comb. The right side of the skull shows an extensive brazed repair. The short, narrow peak which is attached to the skull by modern round-head pivots with square internal nuts, project forward to an obtuse central point. Its front edge has a plain inward turn accompanied by a recessed border. Attached within the lower edge of the peak by six modern round-headed rivets is a medially-ribbed U-shaped face-defence with a narrow recessed border. It is cut at its upper end with a pair of broad vision-slits, each of which has a plain inward turn at its lower edge. The face-defence is pierced at its centre with a group of nine small circular ventilation-holes in rosette formation, and to either side with a group of five similar ventilation-holes, also in rosette formation. Each of the outer groups is encircled by four diagonal ventilation slots decorated mid-way down each side with small circular holes that break into them. The medially-ridged bevor is shaped to the chin and cut with a broad U-shaped face-opening, the edge of which has a plain, inward partial turn bordered originally by six externally-flush lining rivets of which one is now missing. A swivel-hook riveted at the right of the neck of the bevor engages a pierced stud riveted at the right of the neck of the skull. The front and rear gorget-plates are respectively secured to the flanged lower edges of the bevor and the skull by pairs of modern round-headed rivets with square internal washers. The lower edge of the front gorget-plate descends to an obtuse central point while that of the rear gorget-plates is rounded. The lower edges of both gorget-plates have plain inward turns accompanied by recessed borders containing modern lining-rivets with square internal washers. The secondary edges of the helmet were originally decorated with single incised lines of which only traces remain.

Notes

History note: Mr James Stewart Henderson of 'Abbotsford', Downs Road, St Helen's Park, Hastings, Sussex.

Legal notes

J.S. Henderson Bequest

Measurements and weight

Depth: 25.5 cm
Height: 31.8 cm
Weight: 1.66 kg
Width: 24.4 cm

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1933-03-16) by Henderson, James Stewart

Dating

17th Century, Early#
Production date: circa AD 1630

Note

South German

The helmet is bright with medium patination overall.

Components of the work

Bevor
Borders
Decoration
Face-defence
Parts

Materials used in production

Steel

Techniques used in production

Hammered : Form a skull, a pivoted peak with a separate face-defence, a bevor attached to the skull by the same pivots as the peak, and a single gorget-plate front and rear; hammered, shaped, riveted, with recessed borders, ventilation holes and traces of incised decoration
Patinating
Formed

Inscription or legends present

Inscription present: green tag numbered '213'

  • Text: 213
  • Type: Label

Identification numbers

Accession number: HEN.M.72-1933
Primary reference Number: 18446
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Wednesday 11 January 2023 Last processed: Thursday 7 December 2023

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Applied Arts

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Close helmet" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/18446 Accessed: 2024-11-22 09:35:50

Citation for Wikipedia

To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:

{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/18446 |title=Close helmet |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-22 09:35:50|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

API call for this record

To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:

https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/objects/object-18446

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