High quality picklehaube manufacturers

[wadair95]

I am interested in the Duchy of Parma and the picklehaubes worn by the troops of that state. I am new to picklehaubes in general but is there a manufacturer who produces custom high quality replicas? I believe they used the duchy used the 1842 variant. Thanks for the help!

 

[Sandmann]

Welcome to the Forum. But unfortunately I don’t know a replica manufacturer who offers these old Helmets.

 

[Nacuaa]

Spikehelmets - About Us

spikehelmets.pl

Thomislaw at Spikehelmets in Mosina, Poland knows craftspeople who can produce a good M1842 facsimile. I have an original brass Parma plate, extraordinary design work of Bourbon coat of arms. Parma was threatened by both French and Austrian ambitions during the 1840's and sought to ally themselves with Prussia but their duke was assasinated and later Parma was absorbed although I think the title is active. They had a remarkable GduC helmet with a silver star and scarlet plume as well.

I recommend a beautifully produced book. Lots of photos including original daguerotype images of troops in their M1842s, many different helmets, and plenty of color plates.

LE REALI TRUPPE PARMENSI DA CARLO III A LUISA MARIA DI BORBONE 1849-1859 by Zannoni, Mario & Fiorentino, Massimo: Very Good Hardcover (1984) First Edition | R. Hart Books

First Edition - Hardcover - Albertelli Editore - 1984 - Condition: Very Good - Very Good - 182pp; numerous b/w & col. illus. Text in Italian, captions to illus. in Italian and English. Bookplate of a former owner on the (blank) second free front end paper, otherwise an excellent copy. (Due to...

www.abebooks.com

 

[b.loree]

I have purchased reproduction parts from Thomislaw and can also recommend him.

 

[Nacuaa]

These are daguerreotype images of a Parma Infantryman and Mounted Artillery. They are fitted out in entirely 1842 Prussian style. The helmets are misinterpreted in some older prints and appear more British. Existing pickelhaubes indicate that they are M1842's manufactured in Germany as they are indistinguishable from Prussian ones.

 

[Nacuaa]

Here is my Parma helmet plate in stamped brass. CIII is Charles III Duke of Parma. The duchy had been ruled as a subject of a branch of the French-Spanish Bourbon dynasty. More research needs to be done on the politics here. Bismarck would take great interest in Italy at the outset of the Austro-Prussian War but by then Italy had been unified. I like the plate because you can see the investment by Charles in presenting his duchy as a potential member of the Northern German Alliance states.