November 7-8, 2018 Edged Weapons, Armor, & Militaria
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 11/7/2018
Lot contains: (A) Prussian M1895 enlisted Pickelhaube, and (B) Imperial German pressed felt artillery Pickelhaube. (A) Prussian Pickelhaube in overall very good to excellent condition. Helmet leather is excellent with light crazing. Visor and neck piece are heavily crazed and melted. National color cockade is present, but the Prussian enlisted cockade has been replaced with an officer quality piece. Chinstrap is a reproduction. Inside spike mounting plate is mounted on the outside, and it appears to have never been on the inside. Helmet appears to be marked to a reserve infantry regiment, but the some markings markings are not legible. (B) Very unusual controversial Imperial German Pickelhaube in overall excellent condition. Colonel Rankin, in his 1965 book "Helmets and Headgear of the Imperial German Army 1870-1918", mentions a helmet of this style on pages 84 and 89 (a diagram). He describes it as wartime expedient pressed felt helmet, worn in Serbia by Imperial German forces. Contemporary authorities on Pickelhaubes do not agree this pattern is original. Both the neck protector and the helmet are marked with a "BA I 1918" in a black lined rectangle. The helmet's liner is in a green cotton and there is an illegible marking present. Only the Imperial German national cockade is present. The neck protector is attached with a leather strap with ten adjusting holes and a buckle. The front plated has a "R" and a "348". Metal helmet fittings are painted Feldgrau.