Seeking Help in Identifying this Shell

[billmunny]

Greetings friends!

I have this shell and would very much appreciate thoughts on it's identity. It has markings for a cruciform with equal length arms and the impressions of the wappen are not clear to me...thanks for any thoughts!

 

[poniatowski]

Pretty hard to say without the visor. If all of the 'arms' of the cross base imprint are equal, then it's most likely Hessen, or a Beamte of some sort. The 'shadow' from the Wappen looks more like Wurttemberg or Bavaria to me, but it's hard to tell. Even looks like the shadow of a sword on the right side (left looking at it) and indents from a badge of some sort. So, yes, a real mystery.

 

[poniatowski]

This is what I'm seeing... sword????? on the left of the photo, indents in the center (squiggle crossed out, disregard) and the shadow of the Wappen? Of course, I could be well off base. Let's wait for others to offer opinions.

 

[Naprawiacz]

These are my suggestions.

 

[CLOVIS 57]

I can clearly see the shadow of the Württemberg insignia. It is a Württemberg officer's helmet. A distinctive feature of this helmet is that the base of the crest is cross-shaped regardless of the branch of service, even for the infantry. The outline of the ancient helmet in the center is not visible because it is positioned on the front part of the cross at the base of the tip. You can even see the shadow of the deer's antlers on the right.