St. Augustine Florida Excavated Spanish Morion

[Philip]

'Just noticed one of nearly identical shape and construction to the St Augustine helmet, published in the guidebook to the Luigi Marzoli Collection housed in the castle in Brescia, Italy. The piece (inv. no. E60), is dated to the period 1570-80 and attributed to a Brescian workshop or armory. The only real difference with this one is that it is lightly engraved with geometric and floral borders, and displays a large coat-of-arms of a lion rampant surmonted by a Cross of Lorraine. And it appears to be in near-perfect condition, having led a very sheltered life for about 450 years!

The museum identifies the type as a "morione aguzzo".

Turning to my copy of Umberto Franzoi's "L'Armeria del Palazzo Ducale a Venezia", there are 71 catalog entries for morions. The type with the "pear" stem is called "morione a punta" (the equivalent to the m. aguzzo), and the pattern with the comb is, predictably, the "morione a cresta". The interesting thing is that the pear-topped ones vary greatly in terms of their brims, ranging from flat and oval (inv. no. C7) to flat with a "football shaped" contour (inv. no. C14), to a highly exaggerated upturned boat shape (inv. no. C65). All of those in the armory collection are engraved and from Brescia. The crested ones are either Brescian or German, and this class is in the minority.