Bavarian pickelhaube - any alarm bells ringing?

Bungo

Bungo

Member
Hi all,

I've been offered the opportunity to purchase a Bavarian pickelhaube for what seems to me a reasonable price. Attached are some photos. It also comes with its original case, which is missing the buckle on the strap.

Do any of you see anything which sets off alarm bells?

Obviously there's the slightly collapsed crown, and the cockades will need to be swapped to the correct sides, but aside from that I'm not seeing anything which worries me from an authenticity perspective. But I thought I'd run it past the "expert panel" before I commit to buy.

Thanks,

Bungo
 
Since the cockades are reversed, the chinstrap has obviously been removed for cleaning, etc. The first scale looks overly long, as if it's missing one, but that may be the way it was manufactured. I'd have mentioned the spike base being pushed in, but we've seen original photos of that being done on purpose, so considering the lack of deep crazing around the 'bend' in the dome, that might be original as well.
I can't see anything really wrong.

Anybody else?

:D Ron
 
Depending on the price of course, but I can see no tampering on these pictures.
The wappen seems to draw its outer lines on the helmet so …
I don’t think you’ll tear your pants on this one.
 
Looks good to me, even though the kokarden are reversed, at least they are there. The caved in top is typical of the cruciform spike base configuration and is due to the added pressure of this type of spike arrangement. The wappen is of course the older style with extra "vines" which dates it pre 1896. Larcade gives that year as the date when they switched to a simpler wappen. Very nice!
 
Thanks everyone. Good to have a "pass" from you all.

Payment has been sent today, and the helmet is soon to travel halfway across the globe from Kansas to Australia. I'll post my own photos once I receive it in a couple of weeks.

Thanks again. Damn, I love this forum - such an amazing community, and such an incredible resource.
 
b.loree said:
Looks good to me, even though the kokarden are reversed, at least they are there. The caved in top is typical of the cruciform spike base configuration and is due to the added pressure of this type of spike arrangement. The wappen is of course the older style with extra "vines" which dates it pre 1896. Larcade gives that year as the date when they switched to a simpler wappen. Very nice!
Click to expand...

Actually, only the EM Foot-Troops went to the simpler small helmet plate in 1886. Officers and all mounted troops kept the giant 1886 helmet plate until 1914.

See kaisers bunker http://www.kaisersbunker.com/pt/bayern.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 
The vines always make it look nicer. :)

My personal take on the 'caved in spike' was that it was a stylistic thing. What makes me think this is that some officers posed with their helmets like that... I can't really imagine any officer posing with a damaged helmet. Going to have to mull that one over a bit... I can certainly see them getting pushed in by accident.



:D Ron
 
Hmmmm.... do you have access to those pics of officers posing with sunken helmet tops? Never seen that.
 
b.loree said:
The caved in top is typical of the cruciform spike base configuration and is due to the added pressure of this type of spike arrangement.
Click to expand...

I don't see how the weight of the spike can cause the depression in cruciform spike base helmets. The spike weighs almost nothing. It is far more likely the sunken top is caused by natural shrinkage of the leather, which is unsupported. In contrast, round spike bases offer solid support for the center of the helmet.
Steve
 
b.loree said:
Hmmmm.... do you have access to those pics of officers posing with sunken helmet tops? Never seen that.
Click to expand...

It was on this forum somewhere, but I can't remember where. It was something interesting that was discussed by a few of us, but I don't know if the post / photos still exist? If I ever get some time I'll do a search.

:D Ron
 
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