Burgonet 1560-1600
German, probably north German. Two piece skull joined down the center at the comb - the wearer's right side rolled over the left. Separate brim and tail plates. Cheekplates at each side hinged at the upper back. Skull with elegant tall, narrow comb joined with a roll. Where the comb ends at the front and back there is a short flush riveted overlap. Arched crease on each side of the skull. Borders with a plain round inward turned roll with a parallel recessed border. The recess coming to a cusped point at the center of the brim and the center of the neck. Each cheekplate with borders en-suite. The center of each decorated with a raised embossed flower. The brim is secured inside the skull. The tail lame follows the normal pattern and is riveted on the outside of a flare at the base of the skull. The hinges that secure the cheek plates are riveted inside the skull with 3 rivets on each side of the hinge. Retains original brass capped rivets throughout (some have damaged or lost caps). Most internal washers for the leathers seem to be original as well. They appear to be a mix of flat cut washers and "donut" washers. The left rear has a brass plume holder attached within the line of lining rivets. Various signs of delamination, primarily on the interior. The surface is pitted and cleaned. Close inspection of the finish indicates that the main surfaces were originally rough from the hammer and blackened. Double incised lines can still be seen along the secondary edges of the tail lame and cheek plates. With a black surface and polished borders and flower, this would have been a very elegant piece. Unlike low end, munition burgonets the cheekplates would have originally been lined just like the skull - the rivets and washers remain that would have secured the leather strip.
This is a very interesting piece. It is large in size and relatively high end. It appears to be mid-late 16th c. but is constructed from 2 halves with a separate brim. This is more common in the 17th c., but there are some high end examples of pieces used in France and burgonets that are styled more like morions that are also made this way in the second half of the 16th c. This appears to be another example of that less common style of construction in the 16th c. The use of 3 rivets on each side of the hinges, crease in the skull and the embossed flower really bring this up to it's own level. Most inward turned rolls in the second half of the 16th c. are roped. The rolls on this piece are not - they are left plain. This happens, but it is much less common. Looking at the interior we see interesting hammer marks. These illustrate how the decorative elements were formed. The most obvious area is in the decorative flowers in the cheek plates. We see very clear narrow tool marks that tell us that they were embossed from the inside using a narrow faced hammer. We see the same marks at the creases in the bowl and decorative elements in the border work. Another interesting note, even at this level the "rolls" at the face edge of the cheekplates are not rolls, they are hollow.
Measurements: Weight: 4 pounds 6.4 ounces (2 kilo). Thickness (measured in inches) - skull varies .045-.078, mostly .055-.062. Brim .060-.080. Left cheek plate .045-.052.
If you have any questions, please send them to Wade Allen
This site last updated Wed Jul 09 21:38:05 EDT 2025