Page:A record of European armour and arms through seven centuries (Volume 2).djvu/180

 sizes of these two head-pieces, the Wallace helm being 14-1/8 inches high, and the Barentyn helm 12-1/4 inches high, as it was originally made previous to the addition of the band of 1-1/2 inches.

English, early XVIth century No. 78, Wallace Collection

English, early XVIth century Bargello Museum, Florence

The helm in the Bargello (Fig. 480) was bequeathed to that museum by M. Louis Carrand with the remainder of his collection. It is certainly the finest and most complete of this particular family of helm. It came originally from Castle Hedingham, Essex, and is supposed to have belonged to John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford. He fought at Bosworth Field in 1485, against Lambert Simnel in 1488, and against Lord Audley and the Cornishmen in 1497. He was Great Chamberlain of England on the accession of Henry VIII in 1509, and died in 1513. Hedingham Castle was the seat of the de Vere family, and was granted by William the Conqueror to Aubrey de Vere. The helm was at one time in the collection of the Rev. Brooke Bicknell, an ardent armour lover and enthusiast, and was purchased from him by Mr. Evelyn Wright, of Wardour Street, who disposed of it to Signor Ressman, who in his turn gave it later to M. Carrand in part exchange for the famous Meyrick helm (see page 116, Fig. 459). The Carrand helm must originally have hung above a tomb, having at one time been painted with scrolls, etc., by the undertaker, which fact has served to protect parts of the surface of the metal; so that to-day it presents the appearance