Randall Moffett wrote: |
bruno,
having had the benefit of handling real medieval helmets from a few large collections I can say most w/out padding were bigger than my head. I assume with the proper padding their heads were not very different than ours by any great size. PErhaps most were shorter but the average heights still was 5'6", not a huge jump with some places in our day and their skulls look about the same size as ours. I believe the average now is 5'8" for men I think the workmanship just looks 19th century to me. I have seen some good fakes having worked in a museum and had access to great resources but that first helmet is just weird. It combines things that do not seem to work for the 13th. That said 13th might be a typo, perhaps 14th century, which would make way more sense for the chest clasp, which would make this a tourney helmet and further it in the late 14th. That said the general type of helmet now is out of the time it would more or less fit in. The face is odd but in general it just looks wierd and the craftsmanships looks very poor. I have seen historic helmets of low quality, every rivet or the piece in general being noticibly asemetric and other things but my guess if later remake. Reminds me of the Violet le Duc one more than nought. Some of the auction companies should be viewed catiously they get things wrong too. I do wonder about them using carbon 14 and that coming out to what they said it did. I wonder if this has been severly modified. I worked on some pauldrons that had clearly been worked on by some local metal worked with minimal understanding of the piece as the lames were attached backwards on one.... It could in part of all be orignal medieval material but just assembled differently later (likely 19th as their are similar fakes of very similar design). I think the second ones are interesting. They look much more probable as medieval. Any more info one them? No doubt many types of helmets existed,not sure on number one though. RPM |
The few original ones I could examine wouldn't enter not only my big head, but also a normal one.
Either I examined a collection of child helmets or I was really unlucky.
Obviously I'm not saying you are not telling the truth.
My head size is an european 60.
For the rest I tottaly agree, also the other helmet posted by Merv looks leDuc-ish.
19th century reconstructors had access to sketches that were heavily based on nonscientific studies