My favorite find of the year

[Pickelhaube]

After looking for a Hessen pickelhaube for years, i finally found one i liked in Ciney. I really love the patina of the helmet.

Greetings Pickelhaube

 

[cptbob]

Congratulations on landing your prize!

 

[gino1]

Very nice piece with its patina, not seen there at the fair, is a top fair if you ask me, but much has changed since 20 years ago

 

[Steve Nick]

Well done. What a great item.

Doesn't get any better if you're looking for a Hessian infantry helmet.

 

[CLOVIS 57]

Very nice, congratulations !

 

[911car]

Great find indeed.
The only problem with helmets found in this condition is the dilemma that pops up right away: clean it or not?

 

[2nd.Leibhusar]

Very nice piece ...congratulations

 

[Digger1915]

I agree 100% - this one has a super patina and great overall appearance.

Congratulations

 

[ShineyMarbles]

Great find, very nice helmet

 

[Pickelhaube]

Great find indeed.
The only problem with helmets found in this condition is the dilemma that pops up right away: clean it or not?

For me there is no dilemma, because i keep the helmets like found, i also have a garde du corps and a 100 saxon which are never cleaned. You can always clean a helmet, but you can only keep the original patina once.

 

[CLOVIS 57]

Great find indeed.
The only problem with helmets found in this condition is the dilemma that pops up right away: clean it or not?

Thank you for raising the issue, Bruno.
Both cases are understandable.
I --- For “combat” helmets (M15 troops), I am in favor of leaving them in the condition in which they were found, which is often their original condition.
II---For ceremonial helmets such as those worn by bodyguards, generals with their Federbusch, etc., I also prefer them in their period condition, i.e., shiny and sparkling, in short, “mint” or Zustand1.
Especially since in this case, the “patina” is not period!

This does not exclude “care” of the leather, particularly the chin straps and inner linings, which must not be allowed to dry out or become encrusted with sebum.

In this case, for me, the patina adds nothing. It is the oxidation of the nickel silver, oxidation that is not from the WW1 period, but which has occurred over a century because it was stored in a dusty and damp place, without care.
I would be eager to restore it to its original “splendor” (but only if I could do so successfully!!!). In any case, a slight patina returns over time, whether it is “natural or silver-plated nickel silver,” but less pronounced than here.
This is only my opinion.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

 

[911car]

For me there is no dilemma, because i keep the helmets like found, i also have a garde du corps and a 100 saxon which are never cleaned. You can always clean a helmet, but you can only keep the original patina once.

I was not referring to the patina, the noble, story-telling seasoning we all worship, but to the dust from careless storage.

 

[argonne]

clean it or not?

I am in favour of respecting objects that have aged gently for over 100 years. You don't give an elderly person a facelift either.
The result would be anachronistic, not to say ridiculous. But that´s only my two cents too.

Collectors who mostly engage in this type of ‘restoration’ often achieve a rather flashy result when it comes to metal fittings on a helmet, but it will never be possible to harmonise the look of leather that is over 100 years old with shiny fittings. The harmony will never be there. Nor do I believe the claim that a beautiful patina will automatically return a few weeks or months later to thoroughly polished fittings. To date, I have never been shown a before-and-after demonstration showing the beautiful patina that is supposed to have returned.

Philippe

 

[911car]

Thank you for raising the issue, Bruno.
Both cases are understandable.
I --- For “combat” helmets (M15 troops), I am in favor of leaving them in the condition in which they were found, which is often their original condition.
II---For ceremonial helmets such as those worn by bodyguards, generals with their Federbusch, etc., I also prefer them in their period condition, i.e., shiny and sparkling, in short, “mint” or Zustand1.
Especially since in this case, the “patina” is not period!

This does not exclude “care” of the leather, particularly the chin straps and inner linings, which must not be allowed to dry out or become encrusted with sebum.

In this case, for me, the patina adds nothing. It is the oxidation of the nickel silver, oxidation that is not from the WW1 period, but which has occurred over a century because it was stored in a dusty and damp place, without care.
I would be eager to restore it to its original “splendor” (but only if I could do so successfully!!!). In any case, a slight patina returns over time, whether it is “natural or silver-plated nickel silver,” but less pronounced than here.
This is only my opinion.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

I certainly agree with you, Thierry. What do we know of the "original" patina anyway? In over a century, a helmet may have been cleaned and polished ten times and more, and have grown a new patina as many times.
In aggregate, cleaning, let alone polishing should be kept strictly minimal, if done at all.
There are the exceptions of your case # II, like this one below, but here there was no dilemma...

 

[coert65]

I certainly agree with you, Thierry. What do we know of the "original" patina anyway? In over a century, a helmet may have been cleaned and polished ten times and more, and have grown a new patina as many times.
In aggregate, cleaning, let alone polishing should be kept strictly minimal, if done at all.
There are the exceptions of your case # II, like this one below, but here there was no dilemma...

View attachment 70658View attachment 70657

That one surely deserved a good cleaning. I would have done the same thing.
I usually only dust my helmets off, every 2 months or so, but that's it.

 

[argonne]

In over a century, a helmet may have been cleaned and polished ten times and more, and have grown a new patina as many times.

Bruno,
Softly and "minimally invasive" cleaned, I agree, without strongly polish the Wappen and other metal fittings if the leather shell is looking old.
I think that metal helmets (Kürassiere, JzPf.) could be an exception, but you´ll never be able to resuscitate a leather helmet with some "strong" cleaning, like this example (sorry Thierry, but you know my point of view ). To me, it looks like a parts helmet, a heteroclite assembly of elements that optically do not match together at all...
For me, it's comparable to the face of a hundred-year-old man who has been fitted with a set of pearly white dentures comparable to those of a 20-year-old

Philippe

 

[gino1]

For me it counts a lot that everything is as it was when it came into the hands of the wearer, after that it is everyone's own idea to leave a helmet as he likes it, with patina yes or no, but also understand that some pickelhaubes radiate much more beautiful if one cleans them, there too everyone has his own choice, I would also sooner clean up a parade than a crew in battle

 

[b.loree]

Somehow, I missed this post. Congratulations on an excellent addition to your collection! Years of searching have finally paid off.

 

[pppara]

nice and great addition !!!!!!
mine RBA 18 under. Same dilemma. Same "trench war" between thierry and phillippe here than in french forum.....but they are driven by the same passion !!!
congratulation again!!!

....

 

[CLOVIS 57]

Hello Pierrick,
Yes, diatribes...always friendly and respectful!!! I feel obliged to show you my two. A pre-war 115 (the RBA being the M15) and a Portepee Eigentum.

This one is marked 115 JR. It is an M95 but was reassembled in 1915 with fittings known as “RBA 18.” The bomb was reused, as shown by the old M95 seam and the new M15 seam.





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The highest point and the M71 chin strap scales are nickel-plated.
The star is more pronounced, and the lion, banner, and other trimmings are silver-plated, which is why they oxidize.
The side posts are M91s with a single anti-rotation lug at the rear.
The rear spine has two visible studs, as on officers' helmets. With its openwork crown, this helmet is very similar to an officer's helmet (apart from the cockades and the star of the Order of Louis, which would then be enameled).