Page:A record of European armour and arms through seven centuries (Volume 1).djvu/194

 *tions many and divers forms of the primitive helm; but so far as we are aware not a single authentic specimen anterior to about 1360 is in existence. To us it seems almost incredible that Mr. James Planché, to whom antiquaries owe so much for his archaeological research, should have accepted as genuine some puerile evident forgeries in the Tower, and also a blatant sham which even the Tower authorities could not be persuaded to purchase. In his famous "Dictionary of Costume," published in 1876, he illustrates a page of "genuine existing helms of various types"; of these exactly only one half are authentic.

(?)

Showing a small crest of metal

