ww1czechlegion
Well-known member
Offered for sale is a Guard Officer Helmet that I found out of the woodwork a few years ago. This helmet has Beautiful Fire Gilt Fittings on it, with the exception of the chin scale set which has turned a bit darker, which still have the mercury fire gilt finish on the chin scale set and rosettes. The helmet has had the back left area of the helmet exterior finish expertly restored by our very own forum owner, Brian L. Any white color spots on the helmet body are from the flash of the camera light or the halogen light I used when taking the photos.
I believe that the fluted spike on this helmet is either a Bavarian Officer or Mecklenburg Officer fluted spike. It does not have the folded under bottom edge of the spike like what we would normally want to see on a Prussian General Officer Helmet. I acquired the helmet with this spike on it. When looking at the photos or the helmet in person, the color of the fluted spike matches exactly the same color and patina of the mercury fire gilding for the spike base and neck of the spike, the officer star retainers for the spike base, as well as the back spine, and the front visor trim and domed retaining brads for the visor trim. To my eyes it looks like the fluted spike has been on this helmet for a very, very long time, since the colors match perfectly on these parts. The helmet has beautiful mercury fire gilt fittings on it, (To Quote Brian L.), with the exception of the chinscales which have turned a bit darker in color. I have not cleaned any of the fittings, I left them as I found the helmet.
There are extra holes behind the front plate or wappen. One extra set of holes would be large enough to accommodate a normal size threaded screw post for a wappen. The other two extra sets of holes are much smaller in diameter and do not appear to be large enough to fit a normal size threaded screw post for any officer wappen that I have ever seen. I have no explanation as to why these two extra sets of much smaller diameter size holes were drilled into the front of this helmet. It makes no sense to me. There are deep impression lines for this Guard Eagle Wappen with the Guard Star on the front of this helmet, as seen in my photos. I do not see any other impression lines from any previous different shape of wappen ever having been on this helmet, other than this present guard eagle wappen.
When I acquired the helmet, the brass nut for the front officer star was missing, and I placed an original brass nut on the screw post, but the washer was missing as well, as seen in my photos.
The size of this helmet is penciled in as "59" as seen in photos. There is also a penciled name in that forehead area of the interior of the helmet. I cannot make out what the name is. Someone in the past also seems to have penciled something onto the inner side of the back visor, which can be seen in some of my flash photos. To my eyes it looks like a number. I do not know what it means or why it is there.
The Guard Star has some enamel loss to the top area of the interior white color enamel ring, located behind the "Suum Cuique" Motto, as seen in my photos. The enamel on the Black Eagle appears to be intact. The reverse side of the Guard Eagle wappen shows the nice Mercury Fire Gilding, and the front side of the wappen has darkened a bit from age, but appears to have all the gilding intact. The mercury fire gilding had darkened on the curved chinscales, as seen in photos.
The satin liner is intact, and shows some light wear and use, and there is a small worn area on the satin, as seen in my photos.
I did not clean any of the metal fittings on this helmet, it is left as I found it. Brian has done excellent restoration work on the black laquer finish located on the viewer's back left area of the helmet. I will show photos of what it looked like with the flaked off finish area on the back left area of the helmet, and provide a link to the thread showing some images of when he was working on the helmet, found here:
www.pickelhaubes.com
The helmet displays nicely, and should make for a nice addition to any collection.
Price: $1,850.00 or "Best Offer"
Payment via PayPal is o.k. I prefer "friends and family", or add 4% to cover the fee.
U.S.A. Postage: $20 via Priority Mail with Tracking.
Canada Postage: $35.00 via Priority International Mail with Tracking.
United Kingdom, Belgium, France, Germany, Netherlands, Poland, etc., Postage: $55.00 for Priority International Mail with Tracking.
Australian & New Zealand Postage: $65.00 via Priority International Mail with Tracking.
Thanks,
Alan
The first 6-Photos here were taken by Brian L., and show how the helmet looked when he began to restore the black lacquer finish on the viewer's left back exterior area of the helmet.
I have quoted Brian L's text from the restoration work thread he made about this helmet, with each of the 6-photos I will post directly below here. I have posted the link to the thread, located above in my text. These photos were taken by Brian, from the restoration thread.
"Reichs kokarde is fused to the helmet shell, no need to remove it. This helmet has beautiful gilt fittings!" Quote from Brian L on original restoration thread about this helmet.
"A satin liner rather than the usual ribbed silk." Quote from Brian L on original restoration thread about this helmet.
"All old loose shellac is removed from the affected area and the bare shell is sanded to provide "grip" for the new finish. I have tried to use original flakes from the shell in the past but find that it is much easier to start fresh." Quote from Brian L on original restoration thread about this helmet.
"First application. To be continued...." Quote from Brian L on original restoration thread about this helmet.
I believe that the fluted spike on this helmet is either a Bavarian Officer or Mecklenburg Officer fluted spike. It does not have the folded under bottom edge of the spike like what we would normally want to see on a Prussian General Officer Helmet. I acquired the helmet with this spike on it. When looking at the photos or the helmet in person, the color of the fluted spike matches exactly the same color and patina of the mercury fire gilding for the spike base and neck of the spike, the officer star retainers for the spike base, as well as the back spine, and the front visor trim and domed retaining brads for the visor trim. To my eyes it looks like the fluted spike has been on this helmet for a very, very long time, since the colors match perfectly on these parts. The helmet has beautiful mercury fire gilt fittings on it, (To Quote Brian L.), with the exception of the chinscales which have turned a bit darker in color. I have not cleaned any of the fittings, I left them as I found the helmet.
There are extra holes behind the front plate or wappen. One extra set of holes would be large enough to accommodate a normal size threaded screw post for a wappen. The other two extra sets of holes are much smaller in diameter and do not appear to be large enough to fit a normal size threaded screw post for any officer wappen that I have ever seen. I have no explanation as to why these two extra sets of much smaller diameter size holes were drilled into the front of this helmet. It makes no sense to me. There are deep impression lines for this Guard Eagle Wappen with the Guard Star on the front of this helmet, as seen in my photos. I do not see any other impression lines from any previous different shape of wappen ever having been on this helmet, other than this present guard eagle wappen.
When I acquired the helmet, the brass nut for the front officer star was missing, and I placed an original brass nut on the screw post, but the washer was missing as well, as seen in my photos.
The size of this helmet is penciled in as "59" as seen in photos. There is also a penciled name in that forehead area of the interior of the helmet. I cannot make out what the name is. Someone in the past also seems to have penciled something onto the inner side of the back visor, which can be seen in some of my flash photos. To my eyes it looks like a number. I do not know what it means or why it is there.
The Guard Star has some enamel loss to the top area of the interior white color enamel ring, located behind the "Suum Cuique" Motto, as seen in my photos. The enamel on the Black Eagle appears to be intact. The reverse side of the Guard Eagle wappen shows the nice Mercury Fire Gilding, and the front side of the wappen has darkened a bit from age, but appears to have all the gilding intact. The mercury fire gilding had darkened on the curved chinscales, as seen in photos.
The satin liner is intact, and shows some light wear and use, and there is a small worn area on the satin, as seen in my photos.
I did not clean any of the metal fittings on this helmet, it is left as I found it. Brian has done excellent restoration work on the black laquer finish located on the viewer's back left area of the helmet. I will show photos of what it looked like with the flaked off finish area on the back left area of the helmet, and provide a link to the thread showing some images of when he was working on the helmet, found here:
Saxe OYV Arty., Prussian General
Last week I received 3 helmets from Alan S. aka Czech Legion....an M15 Prussian "bond helmet", a Saxe private purchase and a Prussian general officer. The first two pieces needed both visors restitched and as we shall see, the General has a patch of missing finish. I tackled the size 53 cm M15...
www.pickelhaubes.com
The helmet displays nicely, and should make for a nice addition to any collection.
Price: $1,850.00 or "Best Offer"
Payment via PayPal is o.k. I prefer "friends and family", or add 4% to cover the fee.
U.S.A. Postage: $20 via Priority Mail with Tracking.
Canada Postage: $35.00 via Priority International Mail with Tracking.
United Kingdom, Belgium, France, Germany, Netherlands, Poland, etc., Postage: $55.00 for Priority International Mail with Tracking.
Australian & New Zealand Postage: $65.00 via Priority International Mail with Tracking.
Thanks,
Alan
The first 6-Photos here were taken by Brian L., and show how the helmet looked when he began to restore the black lacquer finish on the viewer's left back exterior area of the helmet.
I have quoted Brian L's text from the restoration work thread he made about this helmet, with each of the 6-photos I will post directly below here. I have posted the link to the thread, located above in my text. These photos were taken by Brian, from the restoration thread.
"Reichs kokarde is fused to the helmet shell, no need to remove it. This helmet has beautiful gilt fittings!" Quote from Brian L on original restoration thread about this helmet.
"A satin liner rather than the usual ribbed silk." Quote from Brian L on original restoration thread about this helmet.
"All old loose shellac is removed from the affected area and the bare shell is sanded to provide "grip" for the new finish. I have tried to use original flakes from the shell in the past but find that it is much easier to start fresh." Quote from Brian L on original restoration thread about this helmet.
"First application. To be continued...." Quote from Brian L on original restoration thread about this helmet.
Last edited:
