My apologies if this has been discussed by I could find nothing in my archive search.

~M

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The german text says the paint and gilding are 17th c.

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certainly many things were indeed painted from furniture to banners to carvings etc.

if you do paint use a boiled linseed oil and rosin mix with the pigments of choice. it should be a thick paint, allowing it to dry will give you a very durable and authentic paint finish, whereas acrylic wont, nor will hammerite etc.

best of luck.

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[ 10-17-2004: Message edited by: Thomas james hayman ]

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Topfhelm Nürnberg, um 1350 Establishes the time period for the piece.

Eisen, geschmiedet, geschliffen, genietet,
Ringgeflecht aus genietetem Eisen- und Messingdraht, Bemalung und Vergoldung aus dem 17. Jh. Everything after the 1350 up to 17. Jh. was added during the 17th century.

Topfhelm (I just Googled this one and the results were many, but not overly useful- most seem to point to people who make modern ones).

The next thing would be to try French and Italian terms. Perhaps some folks here can help out with foreign armour terms for this specific style helmet as my area tends to be equestrian terms and not armour.

I didn't try to focus my search to museums, which you can do. It's all a matter of how you ask the question of the search engine.

I will see if Bob has any thoughts on the subject.

The question is really one of how such decor was applied. Was the paint applied directly to the metal, or was a cover glued onto the helm, gessoed, and then painted? There are demands in the 1322 that bascinets not be covered (with cloth or leather?) as was previously done. There are also records of bascinets being covered with white leather, and legal disputes over imported leathers being used to cover English plate in the 14th century. Was oil based paint in use this soon, or was tempera more likely?

As to the issue of maintenance, I am reminded of a line from Wolfram's 'Parzival' describing a shield which had its cover hacked away, "not as the painters would decorate it, but in the decoration given by War."

there are recipes for painting on metal, and given the nature of egg tempera, it is unlikely to be of use on bare metal. The Wallace Collection Sallets show characterstics of oil painting (or oil based) that you cannot get with tempera. that is not to say nay however, but it is not a forgiving medium on anything other than panel. I am assuming whole egg, glair or egg white behaves very much the same way as water colour gum arabic, but is water resistant to a degree, but not given to surviving hard knocks. And yes it would need a base beyond that of the metal, cloth and most likely a ground such as gesso. IMHO a right pain to try to do. And the strictures on cloth was of course to prevent the hiding of shoddy workmanship.

Also egg medium does not keep for long, whereas oil media do keep and make for a cheap easy accessible option.

Re your pics - I agree it is not something to dismiss, however there is a great irony in the images you show. That specific period was one of much fanciful decoration and interepretation, eg chirurgical treatises show very beautifully illustrated and totally implausible tool designs and colours. However that is just a point of note.

Painting has many benefits not least identification and prettifying armour but it also prevents rust.

regards

[ 11-03-2004: Message edited by: gregory23b ]

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This is a wonderfully illustrated book with many examples of painted Helms.

Reguarding the shields...most shields were wood covered by leather. The leather was dyed in places to portray heraldric symbols.
Also, many sword sheaths were actually made of wood which was painted.

In todays age there is a paint/clear coat combination which Cheverlette puts on their trucks, in which they drop steel ball bearings onto the truck from a good 10 foot distance above it...during commercial. Why not use this paint to paint your helm?

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