A miniature of a helm

[A Senefelder]

You are an armourer; how old would you say this helm is, within a range of consensual failure.

Nando, this is somewhat of a tough call, i'm seeing some things that I like in terms of it having good age, cut washers ( period washers were made by simply punching holes in sheet metal, grinding/filing off the burr and then cutting out around the hole, the simplest merely squares, the nicer examples actually filed relatively round ), beveled and detail filed plate edged where the plates of the helmet overlap each other ( this was not an asthetic, this created a better glancing angle for weapon edges and points than a flat metal edge which created a 90 degree angle with the plate beneath that could trap a weapon allowing maximum force transmition rather than causing it to skid off ), the hinge is appears beefy and well made rather than some of the flimsy constructs on lower end Victorian armour had, and the holes for lacing the liner in are in the right places. The rolled edges are somewhat uneven on the underside rather than having been done with a slip roller ( again a common feature on low end Victorian armour ) If it is Victorian I would say it must have been made by one of the high end makers like Ernst Schmidt, although to be honest it seems to be constructed so well/correctly that I would think if I hadn't been told it was half sized that it just might be a full sized original.

My best guess would be high end Victorian reproduction by a top notch guy like Ernst Schmidt http://www.myarmoury.com/feature_schmidt.html

[fernando]

I got you Allan.
... and for some reason i don't remember (an original or replica rapier discussion ?) i had already learnt about Ernst Schmidt skills.
I am much obliged for your treatise on helmets.

[A Senefelder]

My pleasure Nando. Victorian work has to a degree come into its own in the last 10 years or so and i've seen several examples of Mr. Schmidts work command prices on par with middle to munnitions quality 16th century armour in the last few years. This is a very neat item and something i've never seen before. I've seen several of the exactingly made miniature armours that were made in the 19th century but not such an exacting reduced scale reproduction of a single element.

[pbleed]

If this were mine, I would call it "a helm of a miniature!"
Peter

[fernando]

Originally Posted by pbleed

If this were mine, I would call it "a helm of a miniature!"
Peter

[fernando]

Is it my imagination or do we have here a maker's mark ?

.

[A Senefelder]

Is it my imagination or do we have here a maker's mark ?

There's definitely a stamp there, it appears to be a T inside a kite shield shape.