Close helmet, for use by a cuirassier, with later painted decoration. Formed of a skull with an integral neck-defence, a pivoted peak with a separate face-defence, and a bevor with an integral neck-defence, attached to the skull by the same pivots as the peak. The rounded skull is formed in two halves joined by a turn to the right along a low medial comb. The slightly downturned, medially-ridged peak projects forward to an acute central point which shows slight damage. Riveted within the brow of the peak is a medially-ridged, U-shaped face-defence which is cut with a pair of large eye-openings of inverted tear-drop shape, and a small lozenge-shaped ventilation-hole at the mouth. The face-defence is secured to the bevor at the right side of the chin by a swivel-hook and pierced stud. The main edges of the helmet have plain inward turns accompanied by recessed borders.
The helmet is painted overall with a continuous pattern of scrolling gold foliage on a blackened ground. The painting was applied to the helmet subsequent to manufacture, possibly for pageant use.
History note: Mr James Stewart Henderson of 'Abbotsford', Downs Road, St Helen's Park, Hastings, Sussex.
J.S. Henderson Bequest
Depth: 30.9 cm
Height: 27.3 cm
Weight: 1.83 kg
Width: 24.2 cm
Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1933-03-16) by Henderson, James Stewart
17th Century, Early#
Production date:
circa
AD 1620
: painted decoration later
North Italian
Decoration
composed of
paint
Borders
Face-defence
Ground
Parts
Peak
Hammered
: Formed of a skull with an integral neck-defence, a pivoted peak with a separate face-defence, and a bevor with an integral neck-defence, attached to the skull by the same pivots as the peak; hammered, shaped, riveted, with recessed borders, decorated with paint on a blackened ground
Formed
Accession number: HEN.M.74-1933
Primary reference Number: 18453
Stable URI
Owner or interested party:
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department:
Applied Arts
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://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/18453 Accessed: 2024-12-31 19:53:38
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/18453
|title=Close helmet
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-12-31 19:53:38|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
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