Funny thing ... I knew a woman, Brit, whose family lived in Shropshire, the current home of the current Viscount Boyne. Her Dad knew the Dowager and to make a long story short I got an intro and my wife and I went over and visited. Sadly, the original papers concerning the collection did not shed light on the piece but I did see a collection of pieces from their Civil War up in the attic.
Kolman Helmschmied
The Helmschmieds of Augsburg were the preeminent family of master German armourers of the 15th and 16th centuries, patronized by all the royal families of Europe. Kolman Helmschmied (1471- 1532) is the best known member of this family. He was patronized especially by Emperor Charles V of Spain for whom he made a number of magnificent suits between 1520 and 1530 now housed in the collection of the Reale Armeria in Madrid. He is well represented in all the other great collections such as the Waffensammlung in Vienna and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
This is the only known example of Kolman Helmschmied's work remaining in private hands.
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