One of the most widely used head defenses of the fourteenth century, the bascinet went out of general fashion soon after 1400. The present example is of a rare late type distinguished by its deep and elegantly curved sides and by its centrally hinged, detachable visor. Especially in Germany, this form remained popular well into the first half of the fifteenth century and eventually influenced the development of another helmet type, the sallet, examples of which can be found in the Metropolitan Museum's collection (acc. nos. 29.150.4a, 29.150.8a, 29.158.11).
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Artwork Details
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Title:Helmet (Basinet) with Detachable Visor
Date:ca. 1420–30
Culture:probably German
Medium:Steel, leather
Dimensions:H. 13 in. (33 cm); W. 8 in. (20.3 cm); D. 14 11/16 in. (37.3 cm); Wt. 6 lb. 9 oz. (2986 g)
Classification:Helmets
Credit Line:Rogers Fund, 1904
Accession Number:04.3.238
Baron von Droste zu Hülshoff, Burg Hülsoff near Havixberg, Nordrhein-Westphalia, Germany (before 1857; sold to Londesborough); Albert Denison, 1st Lord Londesborough, Tadcaster, Yorkshire, England (by 1857–until d. 1860; by descent to his son, the 1st Earl of Londesborough); William Henry Forester Denison, 1st Earl of Londesborough, Tadcaster, Yorkshire, England (by 1875–1888; Armour and Arms…of the Right Hon. Earl of Londesborough, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, July 4–6, 9–11, 1888, no. 271, “Heaulme from a castle in Bavaria,” sold for £6 ½, to Chabrières-Arlès); Maurice Chabrières-Arlès, Lyons and Paris, 1888– at least 1889; sold to Dino; Charles Maurice Camille de Talleyrand-Périgord, Duc de Dino, Paris (by 1901–1904; sold to MMA).
London. Alexandra Palace. "Londesborough Collection of Arms and Armour," 1875, no. 798.
Paris. Musée de l'Armée. "Exposition Universelle Internationale de 1889: Exposition Rétrospective du Travail et des Sciences Anthropologiques," 1889.
Paris. Musée du Louvre. "Exposition Universelle Internationale de 1889: Exposition Rétrospective du Travail et des Sciences Anthropologiques," 1889.
Chaffers, William. Catalogue of the Londesborough Collection of Arms and Armour: with a Descriptive Account of the Antiquities and Works of Art, the Property of Lord Londesborough. London: Harrison and Sons, 1875. p. 30, no. 798.
de Cosson, Charles A. Ancient Helmets and Examples of Mail: A Catalogue of the Objects Exhibited in the Rooms of the Royal Archaeological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, June 3rd–16th 1880. London: The Institute, 1881. p.43.
Exposition universelle de 1889. Catalogue Général Officiel: Exposition Rétrospective du Travail et des Sciences Anthorpologiques. Vol. 5. Arts Militaires. Lille: L. Danel, 1889. p. 55, no. 106 or 108.
Dean, Bashford, and Robert T. Nichol. Handbook of Arms and Armor : European and Oriental, edited by Stephen V. Grancsay. 4th ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, October 1930. pp. 70–71, fig. 37.
Cripps-Day, Francis Henry, and Arthur Richard Dufty. "Addenda to a monograph on "Armor preserved in English churches" by the editor, printed privately at the Chiswick Press in 1922." Fragmenta Armamentaria, (1939), p. 127.
Nickel, Helmut. Warriors and Worthies: Arms and Armor Through the Ages. New York: Atheneum, 1969. p. 53, ill.
Nickel, Helmut. Ullstein-Waffenbuch: eine kulturhistorische Waffenkunde mit Markenverzeichnis. Berlin: Ullstein, 1974. p. 62.
Boccia, Lionello G. "Qualche Nota Sugli Armamenti Soffumbergo. Dati Preliminari e Proposte Metodologiche per un'Indagine Storico-Archeologica." Un Castello Tedesco nel Friuli Medievale, Collana Cataloghi e monografie del "Museo del territorio", 1 p. 46.
Christie, Manson & Woods. Collection of Armour and Arms, Carvings in Ivory. London: Christie, Manson & Woods, July 4–6 and July 9–11, 1888. p. 37, no. 441.
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