Reconstructing a 6th c. Baldenheim spangenhelm

[Theodosius the Great]

Here some pictures of a baldenheim helmet made by another friend of mine.

Neat !

The more pics the better.

I can tell all these helmets were a labor of love on the part of their makers.

What a shame more aren't made for us less skilled to make our own.

~Theo

[Matthew Amt]

Avete!

Sorry to dig up an old thread, but this one has been hugely inspirational to my own latest project:







I've been posting the construction progress on the Armour Archive for a few months, with more photos:

http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB2/ ... p?t=108414

It's 18-gauge brass and steel--I cheated and skipped the silvering and gilding, sorry! The mail is from an Indian-made hamata, I think one of the early Find-It shirts, whose owner chopped off a strip to shorten it. I had to do a little riveted ring-linking of my own to assemble several scraps to get the desired shape. Obviously I still have to add the horsehair plume, which I am out of at the moment, but otherwise I'm pretty pleased with how this came out. It was definitely a challenge, and much more work than I had thought when I first toyed with making one of these several years ago. I didn't know they were so heavily decorated at the time!

Thanks to everyone who posted photos for me to drool on and study! Enjoy, and Valete,

Matthew

[Franklin]

Great work Matt, and thanks for sharing. This is one of my far-off projects as well.

[Virilis]

Wow, it looks superb, Matt!! I just feel sorry for your brother who is wearing the helmet hock: ...

[Matthew Amt]

Thanks, guys!

I just feel sorry for your brother who is wearing the helmet hock: ...

Ha, that's "Zaphod", my spare head. (What, don't YOU have a spare head??) And don't feel sorry for him, he gets to wear ALL my best helmets!

Matthew

[jvrjenivs]

thanks Matt. You put another project into my head But you certainly deserve a lot Laudes for that. A very awesome job.

[Virilis]

I have been toying with an idea of a helmet of a sagittarius from Belisarius`s army, could this be the one, perhaps?

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

Nice work Matt. Me as well virilis, I've seen the deepeeka andthat is definately a 'Conehead' product. These look the business though.

[Peroni]

Very nice work Matt! :wink:

I've seen the deepeeka andthat is definately a 'Conehead' product

In which case you might be pleased to know that Deepeeka are re-working it Byron!

[Robert Vermaat]

Matt, congratulations! That is a brilliant piece of work.

[Matthew Amt]

Thank you, guys. The only Deepeeka helmet that I know of that resembles mine is their "Archer" helmet with the scale neckguard, is that the one you mean? I had assumed that was taken from Trajan's Column, and I thought it looked pretty good for that. But it's a good 400 years earlier than mine, and presumably more of lower-class helmet. (Not that Roman "grunt" helmets were always plain, of course!)

Jyrki, the dates usually given for these Baldenheim helmets is "6th to 7th century", which has always seemed kinda vague to me and I suspect "parrot syndrome". Broadly that would include Belisarius, and I'm sure he'd look smashing in one of these, but I don't know if there is solid datable evidence that they date back quite that far. I also feel this type, especially with the silver and gilding, would be a tad rich for the average archer.

I frankly don't know much about the contexts these helmets are found in, or what sorts of weapons or accoutrements are associated with them. Been too focused on the details to worry about peripherals! But I would like to see what sorts of buckles are from that era, since I need to make some clothes and stuff to go with it. More research!

Valete,

Matthew

PS: Two friggin' feet of snow, and it hasn't quite stopped yet. So instead of getting together with my Roman friends at our monthly workshop, I get to shovel. Tired, sore, and cranky. Maybe I'll start that tunic.

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

Yes Matt that is the one, and while I know it is of an earlier context, the differences are not so great as for there not to be an influence.
I see these spanglehelms as a direct decendent or at least a sign of the influence from these earlier eastern helmets.

[Virilis]

Thanks Matt, these type helmets are indeed usually dated to the 6-7th century ad. Perhaps they are a bit "lateish" for an soldier of Belisarius`s army but then again several other late roman types (Deurne, Berkasovo, Concesti, Intercisa) are perhaps a bit too early in this context. So what would an officer and a common soldiers of Belisarius`s army wear in their heads? That question has interested me for a long time: are the spangenhelms too late or are the ridge helmets too early hock: !?

[Olaf]

An excelent source for Baldenheim Helmets is
Mahand Vogt: Spangenhelme. Baldenheim und verwandte Typen. Monographien des Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums 39. Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum, Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 2007. ISBN 978-3-7954-2006-2.

It discusses the dating, evolution, symbolism, construction and decoration of all known finds, has a thourough archeological catalogue of these itmes, b&w and color pictures of many helmets.
The best thing about it however are the included folded schematical "rollouts" of the helmets.

There is also an Austrian creating Spangenhelmets, and other helmets, for fun:
http://www.drachengold.at/helm.htm

I am very happy to call this one my own:

[Virilis]

Olaf, this helmet looks OUTLANDISHLY good hock: !!! Look at this too hock: hock: hock: :
http://www.drachengold.at/uebersicht.htm