Close Helmet mid 17th c.
One piece bowl with a low comb. Top of the comb lightly roped. Pivoted brim. Bevor, visor and brim on common pivot points. Simple flat visor. Neck lames front and back. Edge of the brim, neck lames and bottom of the eye slot on the visor with roped rolls. The turns on the brim and neck lames turned inward, the rolls on the eye slot turned outward. Edges of the brim, visor and bevor with single incised line decoration. Visor can be held closed with a sneck hook on the right side. Bevor was likely held closed with a strap and buckle around the neck. Lining rivets lost. Surface appears to have been rough from the hammer, now cleaned. Pivots and neck lame rivets replaced with modern bolts and nuts. My guess is that the piece was disassembled for cleaning, the lining rivets removed and it was reassembled with nuts and bolts. The pivot bolts were decorated to look like nice old pivots. The right side of the brim at the pivot point damaged.
Bowl may be an early conversion - it has a low, tapered, and wide comb shape that is more typical of many late 16th c. Italian helmets. I expect that this illustrates the original configuration of item number A-59. Many of these seem to have lost their visors - quite probably during their working life as open faced helmets became more common.
If you have any questions, please send them to Wade Allen
This site last updated Wed Jul 09 21:38:05 EDT 2025