This is an early close helmet, which became the standard form of cavalry helmet throughout the sixteenth century. Characteristic are the visor and separate chin defense that pivot at the same points.
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Dimensions:H. 11 in. (27.9 cm); W. 9 in. (22.9 cm); D. 10 3/8 in. (26.4 cm); Wt. 5 lb. 8 oz. (2495 g)
Classification:Helmets
Credit Line:Bashford Dean Memorial Collection, Funds from various donors, 1929
Accession Number:29.158.35
Marking: Bears the mark of Hans Maystetter (documented 1508–33) of Innsbruck, Austria.
Bashford Dean, New York (1917–d. 1928; sold by his estate to MMA).
New York. Brooklyn Museum. "Loan Exhibition of European Arms and Armor," June 12–October 31, 1933, no. 32.
Los Angeles. Los Angeles County Museum of Art. "Loan Exhibition of Mediaeval and Renaissance Arms and Armor from the Metropolitan Museum of Art," January 15–March 18, 1953, no. 21.
San Francisco. California Palace of the Legion of Honor, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. "Loan Exhibition of Mediaeval and Renaissance Arms and Armor from the Metropolitan Museum of Art," April 18–June 7, 1953, no. 21.
Pittsburgh. Department of Fine Arts, Carnegie Institute. "Loan Exhibition of Mediaeval and Renaissance Arms and Armor from the Metropolitan Museum of Art," October 1953–April 1954, no. 21.
Innsbruck. Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum. "Die Innsbrucker Plattnerkunst," June 26–September 30, 1954, no. 89.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Last Knight: The Art, Armor, and Ambition of Maximilian I," October 7, 2019–January 5, 2020.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, Stephen V. Grancsay, and Carl Otto von Kienbusch. The Bashford Dean Collection of Arms and Armor in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Portland, ME: Southworth Press for the Armor and Arms Club of New York City, 1933. p.132, no. 47, pl. I (armorer's mark), IV (helmut).
Grancsay, Stephen V., and Brooklyn Museum. Loan Exhibition of European Arms and Armor. Brooklyn: Brooklyn Museum, June–August 1933. p. 9, no. 32.
Grancsay, Stephen V. Loan Exhibition of Mediaeval and Renaissance Arms and Armor from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1953. p. 13, no. 21.
Thomas, Bruno, and Ortwin Gamber. Die Innsbrucker Plattnerkunst. Innsbruck: Tyrolia Verlag, 1954. p. 73, no. 89.
La Rocca, Donald J. How to Read European Armor. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2017. p. 46, fig. 54.
Terjanian, Pierre, Adam Brandow, Matthias Pfaffenbichler, and Stefan Krause. The Last Knight: The Art, Armor, and Ambition of Maximilian I. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2019. pp. 247–48, no. 139, ill.
Hans Prunner (Austrian, Innsbruck, died before 1503)
ca. 1485–95
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