[B.I]

hi jim/tom,
jims assessment is eloguent, informative and annoyingly well-written, as ever :-)
its interesting that jim took the artists drawing to be possibly fabric armour and not chainmail. it could easily be, but i think that i would be more likely patterned chainmail, as tom agreed. the style of the shirt is well known, as they were late examples and many still exist in collections to compare with. also, the camail and the zirah are of a familiar pattern and if they were of fabric, they would be unusually rare (but again, possible).
i am away from my library, but does robinson state any more in his description. if not, i would assume the armour he is describing could be fabirc armour, and of the type known collogually as a shirt 'of a thousand nails'. this armour had a chequered pattern sewn into the quilted fabric and each chequer was centred with a brass stud. no chainmail though. the helmets (the one in powis is complete) was a steel bowl (khud) with fabric ear and neck sections, not a hood as you describe.
the fabric hood with a nasal bar seems more likely southern and possibly of the well known 'tipu' form, which exists in windsor, in a private london collection and in wiggingtons collection.
i'm glad you saw the point i was referring to on the lance. a silly enquiry, but it just didnt fit into the image (even an image wrongly assembled). maybe its form will jog someones memory as it would be a good discussion on its own.

i have just seen a copy of robinson, and the armour he describes is the 'wallace' type fabric armour, and not chainmail. he refers to a good example being the royal armouries suit, which has the 'hood' helmet.
i am trying to source images of the great exhibition, which i know must exist. there were a series of 'art portfolios' in the india museum, many of which illustrated arms collections of the 19thC. i am hoping they are now in the V&A and when found, i think they may yield some good starting points for comparative discussions.