Burgonet
Replacement cheek-pieces made by Leonard Heinrich German
Replacement cheek-pieced made in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Armor Workshop American
Not on view
This burgonet belongs to a series of virtually identical examples having three raised and engrailed combs that were worn by the guards attached to a noble German or Austrian house. Several helmets bear the mark of Augsburg and that of Desiderius Helmschmid (1513–1579), the city's leading armorer in this period (this particular helmet is unmarked). Pairs of holes in the bowl suggest that the surface was covered with fabric, stitched in place, leaving only the tall combs exposed. The forging of a helmet bowl with three tall combs from a single plate of steel required considerable skill; the challenge was also met by Italian armorers, who created triple-combed burgonets for the Farnese guard (see acc. no. 04.3.219). (The cheekpieces are modern replacements made by the Museum's armorer Leonard Heinrich in 1932.)
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