Crusader's Helmet Identification
 

Hello

Thank you for letting me join! I am hoping that someone on this forum can help me with identification on a crusader's helmet that I have. I have tried to research but have not been greatly successful. Anything would help! I appreciate it, thanks!

Attachment 232217

Attachment 232218

Attachment 232219

Attachment 232220

Attachment 232221

Attachment 232222

Welcome to this forum Bob! The helmet seems quite new to me. I don't see any patina, the edges are all sharp, there even seem to be some burrs on the air holes. The armor mark also looks very fresh. The "screw" like hinge is a no go for me. On the other hand, in one of the photos it looks as if there are hammermarks on the inside of the helmet, something you expect to see in an original piece.
I hope I don't disappoint you too much.
But maybe I'm wrong, so maybe there are other forum members who want to shed some light on it.

Hello,

indeed a modern copy to me too.
It is, however, quiet well made. No ordinary copy.

For your info: At the time when the originals of your helmet came up the Crusades had already been over for about 300 years.:D:rolleyes:

Be gentle, guys !

Here for comparison is similar helmet made by Nigel Carren who specialises in historically accurate reproduction armour.

Hi Everyone

First, thank you for your help. This is my wife's inherited collection and I am by no means an expert in any of it. So, this being said, I really appreciate any information that can be provided. I thought this was a copy, just don't want to try to sell it without knowing anything. To this end, can I just ask why they would have stamped it with the anvil and three hearts? Is this a maker's mark?

I am also attaching photos of another helmet I have, this one, I have seen the exact copy of in the Diego Velazquez Museum in Santiagode, Cuba and apparentely has ties to Christopher Columbus's son.

Again, in my research, I have not come across a similar one, however, the exact helmet was featured in a magazine from The Museum of Historical Arms, catalog no 23, January 1, 1965.

Can anyone add anything else to this? I'm not sure what to do with this particular piece, any advice?

Here's one. It says "Victorian copy" but I don't believe the copies are from the Victorian era. Fairly new in my opinion.

https://historical.ha.com/itm/antiqu...a/6076-50990.s

Hey Bob if you want to sell the helmet. I'm interested.



.

Also my opinion, a middle to late 20 th century copy.
Clearly casted, not hammerd.
But they went thru a lot of efforts for the joints, the nuts and rivets do look nice.

Happy to disagree. This is exactly what it appears to be. A Victorian copy of a Renaissance parade hemet in the Roman style. Then as now an original would have been very expensive and reproductions , either cast from an original or fantasy re creations satisfied a taste for decorative armour as high art. Usually described as cast iron but probably cast steel using the lost wax process made in sections and riveted together. I doubt whether any modern foundry would be capable of producing such thin castings of this quality. Alternatives were reproductions made by the electrotyping process pioneered by firms like Elkington. Really deserves to be appreciated as a collectable thing in its own right and if for sale should go to a decent auction house.