British collection

chinstrap

chinstrap

Active member
I just posted a bit about my small pickelhaube collection and I thought I would take a couple of photos to post here of the bulk of my collection of British Victorian helmets, helmet plates and waist belt clasps. In fact, completely out of period and theme, my real pride and joy is the RAF sector clock used during the war to plot German air attacks and guide the RAF pilots to intercept and attack. This is the real thing, dated 1941, not one of the modern replicas. Recently serviced and keeping perfect time. Patrick20230127_131854.jpg20230127_132006.jpg
 
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Lars13 said:
Very impressive Patrick, and very nice to see.

How do you keep it dust free? :)

Regards, Lars
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Thanks Lars. I don’t. I just have to get the feather duster out periodically and laboriously work my way round, picking up and dusting every piece. I don’t mind, because it enables me to look at everything more closely and appreciate it again. I have thought of glass fronted cabinets but I wouldn’t be able to display as much and I do like to be able to see my collection, rather than have it in boxes or drawers. There is an invisible border between my study and the rest of the house beyond which the collection is not allowed to expand!
 
chinstrap said:
I just posted a bit about my small pickelhaube collection and I thought I would take a couple of photos to post here of the bulk of my collection of British Victorian helmets, helmet plates and waist belt clasps. In fact, completely out of period and theme, my real pride and joy is the RAF sector clock used during the war to plot German air attacks and guide the RAF pilots to intercept and attack. This is the real thing, dated 1941, not one of the modern replicas. Recently serviced and keeping perfect time. PatrickView attachment 29178View attachment 29179
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Wow! Is this the collectors' paradise?
 
Thanks Zeb, but a very small paradise compared to the British collections of a couple of my friends, who have four or five times as much as I have. Mind you, they have a lot more money and space. It has taken me 20 plus years to assemble most this, although some of the cap badges in the frames were bought about 50 years ago when I had a little money and no family responsibilities. There was then a big gap in my collecting, until I finally had some disposable income again!

Patrick
 
Patrick,
What a great collection, beautifully displayed, wow! I tried to expand some of my items beyond my invisible boarder surreptitiously. First one small piece, then another and another (I just might pull this off!), then…busted. Excellent CD selection as well. Thanks for sharing.
Cheers,
Dennis
 
JzPf said:
Patrick,
What a great collection, beautifully displayed, wow! I tried to expand some of my items beyond my invisible boarder surreptitiously. First one small piece, then another and another (I just might pull this off!), then…busted. Excellent CD selection as well. Thanks for sharing.
Cheers,
Dennis
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Thanks Dennis,

Eagle eyes! For those who don’t know Rory Gallagher, but like Rock and Blues, have a look on Youtube for his live performances. It is said that when Jimi Hendrix was asked what it felt like to be the best guitar player in the world, he replied ‘ I don’t know, you’ll have to ask Rory Gallagher’. A superb acoustic player as well.

Patrick
 
Absolutely wonderful. I collected Victorian era medals and have a good amount but never found a good Victorian helmet. Yours are wonderful.

Thanks for sharing
 
chinstrap said:
I just posted a bit about my small pickelhaube collection and I thought I would take a couple of photos to post here of the bulk of my collection of British Victorian helmets, helmet plates and waist belt clasps. In fact, completely out of period and theme, my real pride and joy is the RAF sector clock used during the war to plot German air attacks and guide the RAF pilots to intercept and attack. This is the real thing, dated 1941, not one of the modern replicas. Recently serviced and keeping perfect time. PatrickView attachment 29178View attachment 29179
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Condition on everything looks to be super !
Steve
 
Patrick:

Very good looking collection. I love those Victorian officers helmet plates.

I also see you have some medals, trios and gallantry groups. I assume the trio with the 1914 star and clasp with the MM is a British group?

I have a few Canadian groups left after "the downsizing". My favourite is a KIA group from the Royal Newfoundland Regiment. KIA at Beaumont Hamel on July 1st, 1916. The great thing about Commonwealth medals from The Great War is they are all named to the recipient which makes researching them very easy, at least in Canada as all the Service Records are archival and available on-line.

Thanks for sharing.

Steve
 
KAGGR#1 said:
Condition on everything looks to be super !
Steve
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Thanks Steve,

I’ve become more particular about condition over the years and don’t compromise now in the way I would have in my early days of collecting. For example, I had not very good condition examples of the two white plumed Yeomanry helmets in the first photo but became dissatisfied with them over time and have been able to replace both with almost perfect examples. The bonus was that I sold the less good ones for more than the two replacements cost. I won’t detail the more numerous occasions when I’ve sold things for less than they cost in the first place!

Patrick
 
Steve Nick said:
Patrick:

Very good looking collection. I love those Victorian officers helmet plates.

I also see you have some medals, trios and gallantry groups. I assume the trio with the 1914 star and clasp with the MM is a British group?

I have a few Canadian groups left after "the downsizing". My favourite is a KIA group from the Royal Newfoundland Regiment. KIA at Beaumont Hamel on July 1st, 1916. The great thing about Commonwealth medals from The Great War is they are all named to the recipient which makes researching them very easy, at least in Canada as all the Service Records are archival and available on-line.

Thanks for sharing.

Steve
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Hi Steve,

Thanks for your comments.

Yes, all British. The trios are all to members of the original British Expeditionary Force, the ‘Old Contemptibles’. The clasp on the ribbon of the 1914 star denotes that the holder went out to France between 3 August and 22 November 1914. I have the medal issue records for each man.

I also have a collection of Queen’s South Africa and King’s South Africa medals from the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902,all named and with the state, battle and date clasps to which the holder was entitled.Quite a few Canadian collectors of these because of the involvement of Canadian units.

Patrick
 
chinstrap said:
Thanks Zeb, but a very small paradise compared to the British collections of a couple of my friends, who have four or five times as much as I have. Mind you, they have a lot more money and space. It has taken me 20 plus years to assemble most this, although some of the cap badges in the frames were bought about 50 years ago when I had a little money and no family responsibilities. There was then a big gap in my collecting, until I finally had some disposable income again!

Patrick
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not a small paradise at all, I like the metal victorian Cavalry helmets a lot
I kind of miss a Victorian Tschapka in your collection, but I see some front plates of them don't I?

very impressive and beautiful! and beautifully display

very recognizable the way you describe collection over the years, I also started collecting at a young age and without resources, thus buying anything affordable / within reach of very limited budget, regardless of condition.
then a pauze when starting professional live and the children were young and restarting again with some more financial possibilities and a far more selective perspective.

Nowadays I try to buy one beautiful item a year, and some smaller purchases during the year.
But I still cherish some cheap items I purchased when I was young.
 
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