Wednesday, 4 March 2009

No joy on the classical helmet



Been trying to find an actual example of the French classical pikeman's helmet and tried the Royal Armouries but got this response
I am unsure what exactly you mean. We do not have any French pikemen's helmets and the bulk of our 17th century pikemen's helmets are earlier in the century, around the time of the English Civil War.
I think it's based on the burgonet - and I think I've seen horsemen wearing it too and is a completely neglected European helmet that is around at the 1660s and 70s.
Anyone out there in internetland got any leads? France maybe?
This image of Charles II's troops leaving Scheveningen although poorly scanned shows them.

3 comments:

  1. Good question, Ralphus. Can't think of any original sources at the moment. If you recall Mark Copplestone's great Grand Alliance series from Wargames Illustrated years back, he drew a French pikeman wearing such a helmet. Can scan for you if you like. I'll check my other sources. On tapestries, maybe ?

    Then there are some 15/25mm figures wearing it. I have one in a set of Glorious Empires 30mm flats, "The Siege of Maastricht". They joined my large gray army (in other words, bare castings. But there's a painted example of a helmeted 1670's French pikeman on the Glorious Empires site.

    http://www.gloriousempires.com/

    Can't link it direct, but go to Shop/Figurines 30mm/Louis 14. Don't know who Jacques' designer is or his source of info.

    Regards,
    Steve

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  2. Here's one, but perhaps another dubious 19th Century inpretation.

    http://www.photo.rmn.fr/cf/htm/CSearchZ.aspx?o=&Total=73&FP=3778601&E=2K1KTS6WUNZQK&SID=2K1KTS6WUNZQK&New=T&Pic=6&SubE=2C6NU0P1HUA2

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  3. What you think about this : http://gallica.bnf.fr/scripts/Notice.php?O=08100262 ?

    I wish you nice reading :)

    ReplyDelete