Rennhut
Artist
workshops of Wolf and Peter von Speyer
, or (Germany)
Artist
Wolf Peppinghorn
(Saxony, Germany)
Dateabout 1590–1600
Mediumsteel, iron, leather, fabric and horsehair stuffing
Dimensions26 × 22 × 41 cm (10 1/4 × 8 11/16 × 16 1/8 in.), 8 lb 1 oz (weight)
ClassificationsArms and Armor
Credit LineThe John Woodman Higgins Armory Collection
Object number2014.1175.1.1
DescriptionRennhut skull or sallet consists of a single plate with integral tail and roped comb. There is a bolt in the rear with a wing-nut, perhaps for mounting a plume or crest. The skull is roped across the brow at the face opening; there is also roping around the tail. As with other helmets in the series, WAM 2014.1154 aside, there is a horizontal pair of holes without eyelets on either side of the skull rear, and three holes in a vertical row on either side of the posterior end of the comb. The comb is pierced transversely for the bracket; a smaller piercing toward the rear seems to have been to secure a panache. The area of the base of the skull and tail may have been reworked. The visor pivots at the ears, rising just high enough to clear the face opening. It is secured with a spring-catch, and retains an original braided pull-cord visor-release. There is a double incised line over the eyeslot of the visor.
A bolt at the prow of the sallet has a wing nut for securing the bevor.
The skull is lined with stuffed and quilted fabric, and the tail is lined with leather (which has been patched), going as far forward as the ears. Both are probably 18-19c.
ProvenanceDresden Electoral Armory (possibly) Friedrich August III, King of Saxony Kahlert & Son (Berlin), their no. 87 William R. Hearst Clarence H. MacKay (Roslyn, L. I.) his A-32. Sold with shaffron HAM# 2586.2. Purchased by the Armory from Jacques Seligmann & Co. (NYC), agents for the Mackay estate on 1 April 1940, their A-32/113. Collection transfer from Higgins Armory, Janaury 2014.
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