As mentioned previously, this is a family piece which dates to approx 1882. It is a private purchase helme, with some officer characteristics, namely the partial chin scales, wappen and the liner. It does have the older style (pre 1887) OR's spike base with pearl ring but unfortunately, the spike is missing as is the Garde stern for the wappen. To complicate things, not only is the spike missing but the nut soldered to the spike neck into which the spike top screws is also absent. So, even if one had an officer style spike top, there is nothing for it to screw into.
Both visors need a restitch. The front visor has been pushed in by the wappen and has a split in it, the rear visor is also misshapen. I will try and reshape these using the plastic bag and wet news paper hydration method described in many posts. Once moisture has been reintroduced to the leather, they will be blocked back into original form.
So, my friends, lets have a look at the pre restoration fotos :
This was the first collage of helmet pictures sent to me by my customer Larry, this is his GG Father's helmet. Obviously, Larry has done some research on The Kaiser's Bunker which is to his credit.
So, back to problems....we are missing convex chin scales, spike top and Garde Stern. The first 2 items, are certainly seen for sale on various sites regularly......but a private purchase GARDE STERN ????? MEIN GOTT! Unlike the Meck helme there was no calling Houston on this one! However, when in doubt, you email Dallas TX, to the most experienced and helpful collector/dealer that you know....Randy T at Age of Kings. I send RT pics of the helme and he responds with pics of a Dragoner cruciform OR's spike and base plus, a beautiful OYV/NCO stern. The stern is not totally officer but neither is our helme...no enamel but certainly private purchase, a perfect match! A huge thanks, to Randy Trawnik at Age of Kings for providing the missing parts on this piece of family History! :thumb up:
Some pics of the helme after being taken apart:
That diagonal line in the finish on the left side is actually a tear in the visor, we are going to have to deal with that as well.
Missing 2 screw post spike base bolts as well. Thanks James for sending those!
Side view with rear visor removed. Note the spine simply curves under the rear visor, there is no screw post or Off style split brad pin which we normally see.
Some corrosion on the fittings...Larry wants these cleaned. Pay close attention dear friends, to the shape of the spine brads, lock that away in your brains for future reference. These are originals and have never been played with!
The unique private purchase 1842-1880 liner, quite rare in my experience. Characteristics: no silk, square tips with 2 holes and cross hatching finish to the leather. Condition is excellent and like all PvtP liners the ends are glued together NOT stitched as with the OR's liners. The name glued into the helmet has no meaning to the family...perhaps this was a used helmet bought to equip the GGF, we will never know.
The restorer frequently encounters spider nests underneath the rear spines of pickelhauben. Of note here.....the Dragoner split brads are not holding the spine to the leather visor, they are bent back flat. Two soldered brads have been put on the spine to serve that purpose......never seen that before. Again, a good shot of that spine tang which has no screw post, split brad or soldered "spike" to fasten it to the rear visor. This and the above mentioned split brads, are unique which is again, a characteristic of the PrivP helmets. A last comment, all spines for cruciform spike base helmets are cut in a " V " shape on the end so they can fit under the arm of the spike base.
Rear visor, convex bosses, partial scales plus only one Prussian Kokarde which is correct for this 1882 helme. Again, the kokarde is not NCO or Officer style which tends to make me think OYV, someone with no rank but enough money to buy this helmet. No red or green glued cloth liners to the visors either. To be continued......
Both visors need a restitch. The front visor has been pushed in by the wappen and has a split in it, the rear visor is also misshapen. I will try and reshape these using the plastic bag and wet news paper hydration method described in many posts. Once moisture has been reintroduced to the leather, they will be blocked back into original form.
So, my friends, lets have a look at the pre restoration fotos :
This was the first collage of helmet pictures sent to me by my customer Larry, this is his GG Father's helmet. Obviously, Larry has done some research on The Kaiser's Bunker which is to his credit.
So, back to problems....we are missing convex chin scales, spike top and Garde Stern. The first 2 items, are certainly seen for sale on various sites regularly......but a private purchase GARDE STERN ????? MEIN GOTT! Unlike the Meck helme there was no calling Houston on this one! However, when in doubt, you email Dallas TX, to the most experienced and helpful collector/dealer that you know....Randy T at Age of Kings. I send RT pics of the helme and he responds with pics of a Dragoner cruciform OR's spike and base plus, a beautiful OYV/NCO stern. The stern is not totally officer but neither is our helme...no enamel but certainly private purchase, a perfect match! A huge thanks, to Randy Trawnik at Age of Kings for providing the missing parts on this piece of family History! :thumb up:
Some pics of the helme after being taken apart:
That diagonal line in the finish on the left side is actually a tear in the visor, we are going to have to deal with that as well.
Missing 2 screw post spike base bolts as well. Thanks James for sending those!
Side view with rear visor removed. Note the spine simply curves under the rear visor, there is no screw post or Off style split brad pin which we normally see.
Some corrosion on the fittings...Larry wants these cleaned. Pay close attention dear friends, to the shape of the spine brads, lock that away in your brains for future reference. These are originals and have never been played with!
The unique private purchase 1842-1880 liner, quite rare in my experience. Characteristics: no silk, square tips with 2 holes and cross hatching finish to the leather. Condition is excellent and like all PvtP liners the ends are glued together NOT stitched as with the OR's liners. The name glued into the helmet has no meaning to the family...perhaps this was a used helmet bought to equip the GGF, we will never know.
The restorer frequently encounters spider nests underneath the rear spines of pickelhauben.
Of note here.....the Dragoner split brads are not holding the spine to the leather visor, they are bent back flat. Two soldered brads have been put on the spine to serve that purpose......never seen that before. Again, a good shot of that spine tang which has no screw post, split brad or soldered "spike" to fasten it to the rear visor. This and the above mentioned split brads, are unique which is again, a characteristic of the PrivP helmets. A last comment, all spines for cruciform spike base helmets are cut in a " V " shape on the end so they can fit under the arm of the spike base.
Rear visor, convex bosses, partial scales plus only one Prussian Kokarde which is correct for this 1882 helme. Again, the kokarde is not NCO or Officer style which tends to make me think OYV, someone with no rank but enough money to buy this helmet. No red or green glued cloth liners to the visors either. To be continued......
