Elegant Burgonet Helmet Made for an Officer, Nuremberg circa 1570

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Elegant Burgonet Helmet Made for an Officer, Nuremberg circa 1570

About the Item

Summary The elegant shape combined with the helmet’s decoration and blueing strongly suggests that the burgonet was made for a high ranking officer to be used in the field. Both ornament, shape and the Nuremberg mark argue for a dating of circa 1570. With its armourer’s stamp and against the background of the good state of preservation the helmet is an interesting piece for the scholarship about the history of the armourer’s craft in Nuremberg. Background The burgonet had developed at the beginning of the 16th century from the sallet and soon became a very popular helmet worn in many parts of Europe by infantry and later cavalry units. A clear advantage of this helmet is unifying a good protectoral function against cut and thrust weapons with a free sight field, unhindered ventilation and wearing convenience, due to the small weight and the fact it is worn independently from an armour. Besides the morion the burgonet is the most popular helmet of the 16th century for field use. Description The skull is forged in one piece and shaped at the top into an originally blank polished high comb running from front to rear. It extends elegantly into an eyeshade at the front. There is a neck plate riveted to its back side. Above it you can find a row of rivets that enclose portions of the original lining. Corresponding to this row further lines of rivets are shown at the crossing between the skull and the eyeshade, and at the hinged cheekpieces respectively. All plates of the helmet are finely roped and corded at their edges, and further visually separated from the inner spaces by wide chamfers. Particular attention deserves the ornament of this helmet. The skull is decorated with a group of forged chamfers at both sides, which is repeated at the neck plate and foreshadowed at the eyeshade. This channelling contrasts the surface that was left hammer rough and still shows its original blueing. Such a colouring is achieved by oxidation technique, burning the plates at a certain temperature level. Since blued surfaces are very sensitive to rubbing and cleaning, they are hardly preserved on armour parts, the majority of them owned by museums today. As a comparative example for a well preserved early blueing it can be referred to a visored helmet dating to circa 1510, exhibited at the Veste Coburg (Inv. No. I.A.7). Another example for a partially conserved blueing is the heavy half armour of cardinal Andreas of Austria from the late 16th century, shown at the Leibrüstkammer of Vienna (Inv. No. 1704). While many pieces of armour became blank due to cleaning or changed their colour in the course of aging – mostly into a light brown – historic sources allow for a better impression of the original appearance. For instance the woodcut of count Nikolaus Zrinyi at the Johanneum in Graz (Inv. No. AK. K 10784), dating to 1566, shows him wearing armour that is blued brightly on the surface areas between the etched bands.(1) Besides the surface also the type of channeling used to decorate the present burgonet is rare. There is a breast plate exhibited at the Fitzwilliam Museum of similar appearance, dated to circa 1560 and probably of Nuremberg origin.(2) Also a half armour at the Museo d’Arti Applicate in Milan is comparable. Made in Nuremberg about 1570, it has the same type of ornament, though the channelling runs parallel from top to down at the breast and back plate.(3) Our helmet can easily be identified as a work from Nuremberg by the mark at the eyeshade. It is the punch used about 1570, also present at a morion of highly skilled workmanship at the Deutsches Historische Museum in Berlin.(4) A few centimeters apart on the opposite side of the eyeshade there is also an armourer’s mark. Our own research has not yet led to the identification of other objects bearing this stamp. It is also presently unknown to scholarship (we do thank Dr. Eser from the German National Museum in Nuremberg for his appraisal). Our hope is that the burgonet might contribute to the further research regarding the armourer’s craft of the city of Nuremberg. Last but not least the present burgonet shows a damage of diamond section on the left side of the comb as an interesting distinctive feature. The flash had for aesthetic reasons been folded back at a later date. Presumably the reason for this penetration was the impact of a thrust weapon during combat, like the acute point of a halberd or a war hammer. Similar traces can be studied at a close helmet at the armoury in Graz.(5) Condition Oxidation at the channelling and the formerly polished comb, blueing partly rubbed. Overall extremely well preserved. Provenance Private collection Austria. Notes 1) Published in: Krenn, P., Karcheski, W. (1992): Imperial Austria, p. 64. 2) Eaves, I.(2002): Catalogue of European Armour at the Fitzwilliam Museum, p. 214 and fig. 26. 3) Allevi, P. (1998): Museo d’Arti Applicate, pp. 28. 4) Müller, H., Kunter, F. (1984): Europäische Helme, p. 174 no. 103 and p. 268 f. 5) Höft, T. (1990): Shiny Shapes, p. 67.

Dimensions:
Height: 11.82 in (30 cm)Width: 8.27 in (21 cm)Depth: 11.42 in (29 cm)
Style:
Renaissance (Of the Period)
Materials and Techniques:
Iron,Forged
Place of Origin:
Germany
Period:
16th Century
Date of Manufacture:
1570
Condition:
Wear consistent with age and use.
Seller Location:
Worpswede / Bremen, DE
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU98141791402

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