A RARE SOUTH GERMAN CLOSE HELMET FOR FIELD USE, CIRCA 1510-15 with broad rounded one-piece skull

A RARE SOUTH GERMAN CLOSE HELMET FOR FIELD USE, CIRCA 1510-15 with broad rounded one-piece skull strongly shaped to the nape and formed with a broad low hollowed medial comb (the crown patched,face-opening restored), 'bellows' visor formed with three transverse ridges each enclosed by a pair of incised lines, the top ridge forming a step beneath a centrally-divided vision-slit, the other two surmounted in each case by two pairs of horizontal ventilation-slots, bevor (with small riveted patched at right of neck) and neck-guard of three lames, the visor and bevor attached to the skull by later common pivots and secured at the right side in each case by a later spring-catch, the main edges of the bevor and neck-guard decorated with plain ribs (minor losses, cleaned throughout) The helmet is of notable size. Its proportions can be compared with those of an example formerly in the collections of William Burgess, Sir Guy Francis Laking and Dr Richard Williams, now belonging to the Royal Armouries Museum, Leeds (G. F. Laking 1920-2, Vol. 4, p. 89, fig. 1165). Its plain skull and broad low comb identify it as an early example of its kind.