Page:A record of European armour and arms through seven centuries (Volume 4).djvu/129



German, Augsburg, about 1540. Wallace Collection (Laking Catalogue, No. 257)

the Tower helmet (Fig. 1183) differs from those which we have so far described, in having a faceted skull-piece drawn out to a pointed apex, which has been subjected to alterations. In rendering the visor of this example the armourer will be seen to have exaggerated the grotesque; a curly puckered nose and thick distorted lips have been chosen for the theme of the decoration, which, while constituting a veritable triumph in hammer work, make the helmet more the disguise of a clown than anything else. The two pieced wings added to the skull-piece are of later date than the actual helmet, which can be assigned to the second quarter of the XVIth century. They may be looked upon as additions made probably in Poland somewhere towards the middle of the XVIIth century; the present writer has come across a good many XVIth century close and open helmets to which these curious wings have been added, and many of them can be traced to a Polish provenance. The helmet in the Wallace Collection, No. 257 (Fig. 1184), is a heavy and well made head-piece, fluted and etched with ornaments; but it presents the strange feature of the point of the visor terminating in an eagle's head, which is skilfully modelled and etched to