Help With a 'Haube

[Red Devil]

Greetings!

I am considering purchasing a pickelhaube (my first, I do have a tschapka though) and unfortunately have already returned my reference books to the library. I apologize for the poor quality photos that I was provided, but I would like your thoughts on this one in terms of originality. It has significant patina to the metal parts, a complete liner, and the maker is J.M. Eckart.

From my limited experience this looks okay to me, but I have a couple concerns: the liner is not blackened leather as I have usually seen; it appears the wappen does not appear to retain the leather wedges. Are these things to be concerned about?

Thank you very much in advance for your thoughts! I would like to make an educated decision on whether or not to purchase!
Cheers,
Johannes

[Red Devil]

Please forgive me if this is a grievous breach of etiquette, but I would like to bump this thread once. Can anyone please share your opinions on this one?

Thank you very much!
-Johannes

[Wagriff]

Hello Johannes, A genuine Model 1915 pickelhaube -nothing much wrong that I can see, other than it being out of shape and missing it's cockard and strap, of course. The wedges for the plate have probably just shrunk and fallen out over time-that, or some idiot took the plate off to look at the back of it or to try to wipe off the leather body and simply lost them, as does unfortunately happen. The plate seems to be firmly in place, though and the wedges are nothing to worry about. I've seen little carved wood pegs from the period used, so, apparently, they tended to do this from day one. (Beats using toothpicks, anyway-which I've also seen!)The liner's color is normal and the fingers are all intact-which is always nice to see. A shame it's abit rusty, but who can say where it's been for the last 90 years or so,hey? The leather looks good without too awfully much crazing, and the stitching looks sound. Hopefully, the price is good too?

[Red Devil]

Hello Johannes, A genuine Model 1915 pickelhaube -nothing much wrong that I can see, other than it being out of shape and missing it's cockard and strap, of course. The wedges for the plate have probably just shrunk and fallen out over time-that, or some idiot took the plate off to look at the back of it or to try to wipe off the leather body and simply lost them, as does unfortunately happen. The plate seems to be firmly in place, though and the wedges are nothing to worry about. I've seen little carved wood pegs from the period used, so, apparently, they tended to do this from day one. (Beats using toothpicks, anyway-which I've also seen!)The liner's color is normal and the fingers are all intact-which is always nice to see. A shame it's abit rusty, but who can say where it's been for the last 90 years or so,hey? The leather looks good without too awfully much crazing, and the stitching looks sound. Hopefully, the price is good too?

Thank you very much for your time and assessment! I'm glad to hear that it looks original, and I am learning a great deal about the features of these helmets. I may have missed this one, it was priced just over $300 and is no longer for sale. Seems like a decent price considering the wear and patina. I prefer to research and query before buying if I don't know 100% if it is original or not, and that is the case on this pickelhaube.

Thank you again!
Johannes

[Wagriff]

At just over $300, I can well imagine why it's no longer for sale! An excellent price for a decent pickelhaube in the rough-I would think that it would have cleaned up quite nicely! Oh well...where there's one, you never know-could be another even better one out there to be found tomorrow!