Help identify

[Tunanator]

What do I have? A member of this forum asked enough questions to bring into doubt this armor being 15th century so I came here to get the opinions of those that do know. I have had two others tell me the armor is authentic 15th century...I now think maybe victorian.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/320786727764?ss ... 1555.l2649

.I do not want to misrepresent anything and my knowledge is with swords not armor. One of your members pointed out the visor did not match the helmet so I took pics....he was right as the visor is attached with modern screws. but the helmet looks authentic and had been brassed in the past.
I posted in another section of this forum my observations and what I do know. I will post any pics you guys need. TIA

[Mac]

Tunanator,

I believe that I can say with confidence and authority that what you have there is a modern piece. It is meant to look like a mid 16th Century armor. It probably came from Spain in the middle of the 20th Century.

I am sure that this is disappointing to you, and I hope that you have not taken a large financial hit in its acquisition.

Mac

[Mac]

I was pretty sure that I had seen that armor before. Here is a picture of it being offered in a catalog. I think you will find it to be nearly identical.



I think the catalog is circa 1970, but it is not dated. It was given to me in the early 90s.

Mac

[Konstantin the Red]

Short sights like that usually equals non-working helmet -- peripheral vision is simply gone. Sights w/mezail and ventail plate (with the breaths in it) were in the main separate in close helmets, especially those for combat in the field. Thus you could open things up for better vision and still be pretty comprehensively protected, or else you had the option of buttoning up completely.

And there were close-helmets with three-piece visors: separate sight, mezail, and ventail plates, and the upper two plates might swing up completely independently or all three pieces might be swung up en bloc.

If the lames at the nape of the neck actually articulate, moving with each other, check the washers of the articulating rivets: stout, perfectly round washers are industrial-age washers. Middle Ages washers were hand-cut in the shop, generally of thinner metal than modern ones too.

We've been taking to snipping out our own, which is a gratifying way to use up some shop scraps.

[Thomas Powers]

The helmet looks very much like a replica I picked up in Spain in a junk store in the early 1980's---the older the replica generally the heavier the steel and the better it was made in my experience.

It does not look old; thank you very much for the interior shot as it's often easier to tell age from the inside!

Thomas

[Ironbadger]

The lame plates on the tassets are riveted solid, yes?

No articulating leathers or slotted rivets.

I'm looking at the overall build techniques on the harness, but I see lots of little things that say 1960s or 70s era decorator armor.

There simply aren't any attempts at articulation visible in most of the inside shots.
So I'd say its a decorator suit.

Sorry, but I have to say its not authentic.

-Badger-