HELMET AND BREATHER OF AN OFFICER OF CUIRASSIERS, model 1872 modified 1874, Third Republic. 26373/26374

HELMET AND BREATHER OF AN OFFICER OF CUIRASSIERS, model 1872 modified 1874, Third Republic. 26373/26374

HELMET.
Composed of a bomb, a visor, a neck cover, a headband, two chinstraps, a crest, a black horsehair mane of approximately 60 cm in length, a powder puff garnished with scarlet horsehair, a feather holder and an interior trim.
All fittings are in matte and burnished mercury-gilded copper.
Bomb, made from a single stamped piece, in chrome-plated metal.
Visor inclined at 53 degrees below a horizontal plane passing through the junction of the visor and the bomb. Bordered with a 7.6 mm wide gilded copper circle placed astride its edges and fixed at the ends with a rivet. Under visor covered in green leather. Visor width 5 cm.
Neck cover composed of: a circular strip on its flat, welded under the rear edge of the strip which it extends, it has three gilded brass nails with half-spherical heads riveted on the inside; a second concave strip, forming a groove, with rounded corners welded on the inside, at the bottom of the first. Like the visor, the neck cover is bordered with a 7 mm wide gilded copper setting, placed on horseback. It is lined with ocher calfskin.
Headband, in gilded copper, stamped with a flaming grenade surrounded by laurel leaves, it is attached to the bomb. Its base rests on the visor and its ends are riveted to the bomb in the part hidden by the rosette of the chin strap. H from headband to front 6.5 cm.
Each chin strap is made up of 9 cut-out copper ornamental leaves, stamped in relief with laurel leaves, which decrease in width (maximum width 4.2 cm, minimum width 2 cm). These scales are fixed by wire crampons, flattened on a leather core lined with black velvet.
At the other end, a strap in black patent calfskin.
Upper shell of each chinstrap ending in a rounded part stamped with a circular rosette depicting laurel leaves in relief (diameter of the rosette 5.3 cm).
Bomb surmounted by a gilded copper crest composed of two fins, a mask and a covering.
The fins, placed vertically at a distance of 3.2 cm from each other in front and 2.5 cm behind, have the shape of a curved curvilinear triangle at its upper part and which connects with the bomb by its concave base forming a scalloped edge.
This flange is fixed to the shell by means of 4 copper screws with round head in tallow drop which are stopped inside the helmet by square copper nuts.
The fins are adorned with palmettes and a fillet at their upper edge; the rim is decorated with water leaves, all stamped in relief.
A tin-plated plate joins the upper edges of the fins, fixing the spacing between them.
Mask serving as an anterior junction to the two fins by means of a weld, stamped with a Medusa head in relief. The cover, also stamped, represents the continuation of the hair of Medusa's head with intertwined serpents.
Ornament of the crest consisting of a socket 2.4 cm high, diameter 4.6 cm, stamped with water leaves in relief and a lens 2.5 high and 1.9 cm in diameter, formed of two stamped shells. Attached to the front of the crest and supporting a red horsehair tuft puff (H 4.6 cm).
Mane of black-dyed horsehair, approximately 60 cm long, mounted on a strong nourished cowhide leather sole, in which the horsehair is assembled by tinned brass threads with a piece of sheepskin glued with strong glue on the assembly ; the space left empty between the two rows of horsehair is filled by a braid which starts from the top and follows the curve of the crest to its junction with the crown.
Stamped copper plume holder, height 3.5 cm, forming a socket with a square section, fixed obliquely.

BREATHEAST.
Model adopted on March 31, 1855. All brass parts are gilded. Lightweight chrome steel breastplate. The bib and back are adorned with six rivets. Each of the two straps has a black cowhide body, garnished with two brass chains; the body is finished with a rectangular buttonhole plate molded from sandblasted foliage leaves with a heart-shaped leather tip; the strap holder is made of brass with three rivets, the chain holder plates are covered by a lion's muzzle.

France.
Third Republic.
Good condition. Helmet: interior cap of the helmet not of the model, crest screws partly replaced, crook with some missing parts. Breastplate: breastplate belt changed later not from the model, interior of the breastplate repainted, mane cut in the lower part.