Iron Chinese Helmet

[Linda Heenan]

My husband just bought me a Chinese helmet. It's on its way to me this week but I already have pictures. The helmet is made of iron. I'd like to know how to conserve and care for the helmet. Is it any different from caring for steel? Here are some pictures.

[Linda Heenan]

My helmet arrived today. I'm very happy with it. One of the interesting things is that one of the "rivets" once used for attaching the dingjia flaps, is still present.

The plume holder seems to be peened on, although fairly loosely. It has a small hole at the inner helmet end where a horse hair plume could easily have been kept in place with a simple knot.

As well as the rivet holes for attaching the flaps, there are some smaller holes that may have been used for attaching a strap system to hold it on. I'm not sure there is any other evidence for such a device, but it's one explanation for what I see here. Also, the addition of dingjia flaps would pull the helmet backwards so I wouldn't be surprised, given that there is no grille, to discover there had been some sort of strap system to hold it on. The evidence we have from period art pieces seems to negate that but maybe the owner of this helmet had his adjusted for stability.

I can't see any evidence of a suspension system or inner padding but there must have been something. The circumference is as large as the reproduction piece Adam Mackay made for Laoshi and would need something to hold it in place on the head.

And .... I still need help with how to take care of it. We are only touching it with cloth or paper towels covering our hands to prevent rust. Should I put renaissance wax on it, or leave it alone completely?

[Linda Heenan]

Additional questions
How common was it for these helmets to be laquered black? In my research I've come across a few like that?

This particular one is unadorned, making me think it was for someone unimportant. Is that a fairly good assumption? I've seen pictures of some really beautiful helmets in the same shape. Also it has a short plume holder. I remember Philip Tom telling me important people had taller plumes.

How likely is it that this is a parade helmet? Did everyone have a fighting version and a parade version or were there only a few of them handed out for special occasions? Why were they called parade helmets? I mean, did the army regularly show off to the rest of the population, or what? Did common soldiers wear a lower version on the battlefield, or did they only look after the heads of more important people?

My research tells me these were only around in the Qing dynasty and were part of the armour worn by the Banner Army. Is that correct? I saw something with a similar height from the Yuan but they were more rounded.

There seems to be no face protection on any of the Qing helmets. Does anyone know why they might protect everything except the face?

The head circumference of this one is quite big. I would need a lot of padding to fit it correctly for wearing. In all the pictures of soldiers wearing them, they seem to fit snugly with the flaps tied under the chin and the collar piece wrapped over the top of the flaps. Are there any clues yet as to how they were padded and fitted inside?

I'm writing a web page on the hlemet over the next few days. It will have whatever information I've worked out and acknowledgement for anyone who answers some of these questions, as well as a link back to this forum.

[Linda Heenan]

I realise I'm getting pretty excited about this and it's obvious that people who have the expertise to answer my questions are too busy right now. Just the same, I leave them here for the future. While taking some close up photos of the helmet for my website, today, I discovered it has been carved with a design. This is barely visible to the naked eye except in bright sunlight and surrounds the base of the plume holder. The pattern covers the entire dome of the plume holder base, not just the sides of it.

If anyone has information on such carved designs on helmets, please share it. I'd like to know if it is just a common carved design. Is it specific to one time period? Was it likely to have been inlaid.

[Scott M. Rodell]

Congratulations, that a nice looking piece...

... there are some smaller holes that may have been used for attaching a strap system to hold it on. ... there had been some sort of strap system to hold it on. The evidence we have from period art pieces seems to negate that but maybe the owner of this helmet had his adjusted for stability.

Can you describe where those holes are & how it seems the strap system might have been rigged?

I can't see any evidence of a suspension system or inner padding but there must have been something. The circumference is as large as the reproduction piece Adam Mackay made for Laoshi and would need something to hold it in place on the head.

The pads that I've seen (they are extremely rare) were separate "hats", but these were for parade helmets, so they might have been different for battlefield helmets.

And .... Should I put renaissance wax on it, or leave it alone completely?

Renaissance wax should be fine...

[Scott M. Rodell]

...How common was it for these helmets to be laquered black?

The Qing helmets that were lacquered black were parade helmets made of leather.

This particular one is unadorned, making me think it was for someone unimportant. Is that a fairly good assumption? I've seen pictures of some really beautiful helmets in the same shape. Also it has a short plume holder. I remember Philip Tom telling me important people had taller plumes.

How likely is it that this is a parade helmet?

Not likely, it looks to be a mid-level officers helmet.

... only around in the Qing dynasty and were part of the armour worn by the Banner Army. Is that correct? I saw something with a similar height from the Yuan but they were more rounded.

This shape helmet only dates from the Qing period.

There seems to be no face protection on any of the Qing helmets...

Correct, the during the Qing dynasty no face protection was employed.

[Linda Heenan]

Thank you Laoshi. I really appreciate your input into this.

While inspecting the helmet further this afternoon, I noticed that the decoration around the dome is also on the front strip of metal, that holds the visor, both inside and out. It's on the visor as well. I am going to attempt a pencil over paper rubbing of the designs to preserve them for future use. They seem to involve dragons which is very nice. My red gambeson has gold dragons all over it and I'd like to have an authentic motif from my helmet, to use for future reproduction armour, or on swords.

Can you describe where those holes are & how it seems the strap system might have been rigged?

There are 4 sets of holes on each side. The holes I mentioned are below the normal holes for attaching the flaps. They are smaller than the others. In some cases there is another small hole next to the flap rivet holes. Here is a picture of one near a hole that has the rivet still in place.



I would use these holes to make a cradle of leather straps that held the helmet from 4 points on each side. It would leave room for the ear in the middle, and would meet at the point of the jaw on each side. A single strap would then pass under the chin, holding the helmet on the head firmly enough so that even a hard sword strike would not dislodge it. We did something of this nature with my Adam Mackay helmet. To experiment, I passed threads through the holes of this Qing helmet and held the helmet on my head to see if they were correctly positioned for such a cradle. They are. It would look something like this:



That picture was drawn by marking the position of the holes onto a piece of paper, through the actual holes, with a pen.

However .... those small holes continue around the inside of the helmet under the front strip of metal. So they may have had a different purpose altogether. They may have been used to attach the inner padding. Whatever the real purpose, if someone wanted to completely restore this helmet with dingjia flaps, inner padding and straps as well, all the holes necessary for these finishing parts are already in place on the helmet.

[Nik]

Are there any close ups of historical helmets inner construction ? The cradle you mentioned should have a complex standard construction, there should some net of leatherstraps with a cotton padding so the helmet does not actually touch the skull. Otherwise it would defy the meaning of the helm since the shock would travel right through. The small holes should be for strongly connecting a circle of strong leather or possibly wood holding the cradle, since they distribute the force exerted on the helmet to the whole cradle.

[Scott M. Rodell]

Was thinking about the color of your helmet in regards to your question about how to care for it. OIt appears from the photos that it might have been clean with acid. If so, you might want to artificially add a patina on it to give it some character. I've seen Philip Tom do this to pieces where one area has been over cleaned... just a thought...

[Linda Heenan]

I've seen Philip Tom do this to pieces where one area has been over cleaned... just a thought...

A good thought. I've still put nothing on it because I'm working with the designs. My sister is going to do a digital rubbing from the photos I'm taking, and extract them for me. When Phil comes back from his move, I'd like to have a chat with him about it.

[josh stout]

Congratulations Linda The helmet looks much better than the first pictures I saw. When Scott pointed out that it had been cleaned with acid, the color made more sense. When you are done with figuring out the cool dragon designs (definitely part of what I can see) I bet a good oiling (not WD 40) will darken it up a few shades.
Josh

[Linda Heenan]

It's a lot darker here in reality than it looks in the pictures. It must be the flash. But yes, I see dragons too . When my sister finishes extracting them with her computer, I'll let you all know what's actually there.

[Scott M. Rodell]

... I see dragons too...

You know, a good restorer could possibly re-cut those designs a bit...

[Linda Heenan]

So... does it detract from the value to restore a helmet like this?

[Freebooter]

Was thinking about the color of your helmet in regards to your question about how to care for it. OIt appears from the photos that it might have been clean with acid. If so, you might want to artificially add a patina on it to give it some character. I've seen Philip Tom do this to pieces where one area has been over cleaned... just a thought...

This piece had been sandblasted by the owner who had it before the Gent from whom it was purchased.

Gav