seagull
Well-known member
I spotted this (for me) deeply unusual British helmet in a recent UK sale and was just too late to move on it - I was tempted but the sale was already over.
I had seen the badge before now and was impressed by its complexity and quality but had never realised that it was mounted on such an unusual helmet of essentially Russian design. This was listed as a model of 1860, which explains how it just post dates the Russian helmet of the Crimean War period and I would assume that, being a Yeomanry uniform item, it and the uniform itself were probably chosen by the regiment rather than the military authorities since I expect they self-financed their kit, like a lot of other similar units. My interest in owning a helmet of this design was fed by my interest in the Crimean War of 1854 plus the fact that absolutely EVERY so-called Russian 'example' of this design I have ever seen on the open market always turned out to be a modern fake - fairly convincing fakes but fakes nonetheless.
In this one I saw an opportunity to possess the design I liked but with a Scots Regiment! That was not to be but I thought you might like to see that the British Army was 'infected' by the Haube virus maybe a little earlier than most of us expected, with the introduction of the spiked Bluecloth/Greencloth of later years.
I had seen the badge before now and was impressed by its complexity and quality but had never realised that it was mounted on such an unusual helmet of essentially Russian design. This was listed as a model of 1860, which explains how it just post dates the Russian helmet of the Crimean War period and I would assume that, being a Yeomanry uniform item, it and the uniform itself were probably chosen by the regiment rather than the military authorities since I expect they self-financed their kit, like a lot of other similar units. My interest in owning a helmet of this design was fed by my interest in the Crimean War of 1854 plus the fact that absolutely EVERY so-called Russian 'example' of this design I have ever seen on the open market always turned out to be a modern fake - fairly convincing fakes but fakes nonetheless.
In this one I saw an opportunity to possess the design I liked but with a Scots Regiment! That was not to be but I thought you might like to see that the British Army was 'infected' by the Haube virus maybe a little earlier than most of us expected, with the introduction of the spiked Bluecloth/Greencloth of later years.
