... Very nice helmets, thank you for sharing and nice to see another person with an interest in British headdress... just some helpful information if you are not already aware... your 1st Dragoons troopers helmet requires an 1871 pattern black plume and a brass one-inch leather backed chin chain... the artillery officers home service helmet should have the chin chain draped and attached in the manner show in the picture of the helmet in my collection... there should be a hook on the back of the helmet just below the cruciform base to attach the chain, and the Queen's Own Staffordshire Yeomanry helmet as previously mentioned requires either a black or white 1847/48 Albert pattern plume with brush and silver/white metal black velvet and leather backed chin chain. I have attached a picture of the officer's pattern helmet plate for the Staffordshire helmet that I have in my collection so you can see the missing Staffordshire knot central device that should appear on your helmet... hope this helps in finding the necessary parts, albeit the Staffordshire helmet parts will be very difficult to come by... oh and by-the-way, the garter strap on your 1st Royal Dragoons helmet is upside down and should be reversed to be correct...
Cheers,
David
VICTORIAN ARTILLERY OFFICER'S HELMET WORN 1881 THROUGH 1901
QUEEN'S OWN (STAFFORDSHIRE) ROYAL YEOMANRY OFFICER'S HELMET PLATE
1st ROYAL DRAGOONS HELMET PLATE (correct orientation)
... I have attached a picture of the proper rosette or plume topper appropriate for the Staffordshire helmet... as you can see it is unusual and unique to The Queen's Own Royal (Staffordshire) Yeomanry in that it is acorn shaped. It will be near impossible to find but can be replaced with a silver rose rosette common to other yeomanry helmets/regiments. If you can't find or source the correct period plumes for either the 1st Royal Dragoons helmet or the Staffordshire helmet, you might consider contacting a company called "The Plumery" on the web at
in London. They make exceptional reproductions of Victorian era military plumes using Firmin Company plume spikes. Firmin Company was one of the original suppliers of plumes to the British Army. The Plumery's most recent work can be seen in the recently released Ridley Scott movie "Napoleon." You will have to e-mail them at [email protected] and tell them what you want and to receive a quote for whatever plumes as their work is all custom...