Division General's helmet of cuirassiers, model 1872 modified 1874, Third Republic.
Sold out
DIVISION GENERAL'S CUIRASSIER HELMET, MODEL 1872 MODIFIED 1874, THIRD REPUBLIC.
Helmet composed of: a skullcap; a visor; a neck guard; a copper headband; two jugulars; a crest; a mane; a plume holder; a crest ornament; and an interior lining.
Metal skullcap nickel-plated, stamped with a balance, planed with a hammer. Perforated at the top with four suction holes.
Visor inclined at 53 degrees below a horizontal plane passing through the junction of the visor and the skullcap. Edged with a 17 mm wide gilded copper circle placed over its edges and fixed at the ends with a rivet. Underside of visor lined with waxed green leather.
Neck guard composed of: a circular band on its flat surface, welded under the posterior edge of the band it extends, it has three golden brass nails with hemispherical heads riveted on the inside; a second concave band, forming a throat, with rounded angles and welded on the inside, at the bottom of the first. Like the visor, the neck guard is edged with a 17 mm wide gilded copper bezel placed on top. Underside of the neck guard lined with ochre buff leather.
Copper headband, stamped with a flaming grenade encircled by laurel leaves, adhering to the skullcap. Its base rests on the visor and its ends are riveted to the skullcap in the part concealed by the jugular rosette. The skullcap is decorated with three stars placed one on each side and one at the top, star diameter 1.7 cm.
Each jugular is composed of 9 copper ornament scales cut out, embossed in relief with laurel leaves, decreasing in width.
These scales are fixed with flat iron wire brads on a leather core lined with black velvet.
Rectangular brass buckle with a front screw for tightening. At the other end, black varnished calf leather chinstrap.
Upper scale of each jugular terminated by a rounded part stamped with a circular rosette depicting relief laurel leaves.
The skullcap is surmounted by a crest in gilded copper composed of two fins, a mask, and a cover.
The fins, vertically placed at a distance of 32 mm in front and 25 mm behind, have the shape of a convex curvilinear triangle at their upper part and connect with the skullcap by their concave base forming a scalloped edge.
This edge is fixed to the skullcap with rounded drop-shaped copper screws stopped inside the helmet by square copper nuts.
The fins are adorned with palmettes and a border fillet; the edge is adorned with water leaves, all embossed in relief.
A tinplate connects the upper edges of the fins to fix their spacing.
The mask, serving as the anterior junction of the two fins by a solder, is embossed with a relief head of Medusa. The cover, also embossed, represents the continuation of the hair of Medusa's head with intertwined snakes.
Crest ornament composed of a stamped socket with relief water leaves and a lens formed by two stamped shells. Fixed on the front of the crest and supporting a scarlet pompom made of tuft of horsehair, height 4.5 cm.
Black-dyed horsehair mane mounted on a tough nourished cowhide sole, in which the hair is assembled with tinned brass threads with a piece of buff leather glued with strong glue on the assembly; the space left empty between the two rows of hair is filled with a braid starting from the top and following the curve of the crest to its junction with the skullcap. The mane is attached to the crest with two copper screws with nuts. Mane length 86 cm.
An embossed copper plume holder, height 35 mm, forming a square section socket, fixed obliquely.
Interior lining in black varnished leather gold-tooled on the outer edges, cut in seven dents, each furnished with a metal eyelet.
Senior officer's egret made of heron feathers with a base of tricolor feathers mounted on a whalebone and an iron rod. Height of visible feathers 26 cm with tricolor feathers height 4 cm. Brass olive, posterior.
In very good condition.
France.
Third Republic, Fourth Republic plume.
**NOTE:**
Identifying general helmets for the 1874 models is always very challenging to authenticate with certainty. Normally, manufacturers would mount the stars on the headband using rivets before fixing the headband to the skullcap, as is the case here. However, colonels who attained the rank of general had their helmets modified at the time by disassembling the headband and then reassembling it. Today, it is often complicated, if not impossible, to determine if the mounting of these stars is perfectly original. In the presented helmet, the headband seems to have never been disassembled, and the overall finish of the helmet is of high quality, which suggests the integrity of the piece.
Helmet composed of: a skullcap; a visor; a neck guard; a copper headband; two jugulars; a crest; a mane; a plume holder; a crest ornament; and an interior lining.
Metal skullcap nickel-plated, stamped with a balance, planed with a hammer. Perforated at the top with four suction holes.
Visor inclined at 53 degrees below a horizontal plane passing through the junction of the visor and the skullcap. Edged with a 17 mm wide gilded copper circle placed over its edges and fixed at the ends with a rivet. Underside of visor lined with waxed green leather.
Neck guard composed of: a circular band on its flat surface, welded under the posterior edge of the band it extends, it has three golden brass nails with hemispherical heads riveted on the inside; a second concave band, forming a throat, with rounded angles and welded on the inside, at the bottom of the first. Like the visor, the neck guard is edged with a 17 mm wide gilded copper bezel placed on top. Underside of the neck guard lined with ochre buff leather.
Copper headband, stamped with a flaming grenade encircled by laurel leaves, adhering to the skullcap. Its base rests on the visor and its ends are riveted to the skullcap in the part concealed by the jugular rosette. The skullcap is decorated with three stars placed one on each side and one at the top, star diameter 1.7 cm.
Each jugular is composed of 9 copper ornament scales cut out, embossed in relief with laurel leaves, decreasing in width.
These scales are fixed with flat iron wire brads on a leather core lined with black velvet.
Rectangular brass buckle with a front screw for tightening. At the other end, black varnished calf leather chinstrap.
Upper scale of each jugular terminated by a rounded part stamped with a circular rosette depicting relief laurel leaves.
The skullcap is surmounted by a crest in gilded copper composed of two fins, a mask, and a cover.
The fins, vertically placed at a distance of 32 mm in front and 25 mm behind, have the shape of a convex curvilinear triangle at their upper part and connect with the skullcap by their concave base forming a scalloped edge.
This edge is fixed to the skullcap with rounded drop-shaped copper screws stopped inside the helmet by square copper nuts.
The fins are adorned with palmettes and a border fillet; the edge is adorned with water leaves, all embossed in relief.
A tinplate connects the upper edges of the fins to fix their spacing.
The mask, serving as the anterior junction of the two fins by a solder, is embossed with a relief head of Medusa. The cover, also embossed, represents the continuation of the hair of Medusa's head with intertwined snakes.
Crest ornament composed of a stamped socket with relief water leaves and a lens formed by two stamped shells. Fixed on the front of the crest and supporting a scarlet pompom made of tuft of horsehair, height 4.5 cm.
Black-dyed horsehair mane mounted on a tough nourished cowhide sole, in which the hair is assembled with tinned brass threads with a piece of buff leather glued with strong glue on the assembly; the space left empty between the two rows of hair is filled with a braid starting from the top and following the curve of the crest to its junction with the skullcap. The mane is attached to the crest with two copper screws with nuts. Mane length 86 cm.
An embossed copper plume holder, height 35 mm, forming a square section socket, fixed obliquely.
Interior lining in black varnished leather gold-tooled on the outer edges, cut in seven dents, each furnished with a metal eyelet.
Senior officer's egret made of heron feathers with a base of tricolor feathers mounted on a whalebone and an iron rod. Height of visible feathers 26 cm with tricolor feathers height 4 cm. Brass olive, posterior.
In very good condition.
France.
Third Republic, Fourth Republic plume.
**NOTE:**
Identifying general helmets for the 1874 models is always very challenging to authenticate with certainty. Normally, manufacturers would mount the stars on the headband using rivets before fixing the headband to the skullcap, as is the case here. However, colonels who attained the rank of general had their helmets modified at the time by disassembling the headband and then reassembling it. Today, it is often complicated, if not impossible, to determine if the mounting of these stars is perfectly original. In the presented helmet, the headband seems to have never been disassembled, and the overall finish of the helmet is of high quality, which suggests the integrity of the piece.
Reference :
16317
Next update Friday, may 2 at 13:30 PM
FOR ALL PURCHASES, PAYMENT IN MULTIPLE CHECKS POSSIBLE
bertrand.malvaux@wanadoo.fr 06 07 75 74 63
An authenticity certificate of the item including the description published on the site, the period, the sale price, accompanied by one or more color photographs is automatically provided for any item priced over 130 euros. Below this price, each certificate is charged 5 euros.
Only items sold by me are subject to an authenticity certificate, I do not provide any expert reports for items sold by third parties (colleagues or collectors).