Siege Helmet

Unknown

ca. 1600–1650 · Steel · Arms and Armor

Siege engineers, sappers, and bombardiers regularly came under fire at close range and thus were equipped with extraordinarily heavy shot-proof armor. The bowl and cheeks of this example are protected by a double thickness of plates. The right side of the bowl has a proofmark––the dent caused by a bullet fired at a prescribed distance as proof of the armor plate's strength––but the shot did not penetrate the sturdy reinforce to the bowl below.

Artist

Unknown

Date

ca. 1600–1650

Medium

Steel

Culture

French

Department

Arms and Armor

Credit line

Gift of William H. Riggs, 1913