Barbute
Product Description
The Barbute was a popular 15th century Italian helmet based on the Bascinet and reminiscent of the ancient Greek Corinthian helms. It is not known if the ancient Greek helmets played a direct role in influencing the development of this helmet or if it was the same need and idea separated by a thousand years (or so).
The Barbute is a transitional helmet (between open faced and visored helmets) that identified the need for more plate protection for the face than the faceplateless Bascinet provided. This was due to changing weapon technology. It was designed to provide this extra protection while minimising the loss of vision, ability to breathe, weight and steel (which was expensive).
Originally made in Italy, usually Milan or Venice, the barbute is distinctive with its round dome, crest and flaired neck. I am sure the Italians believed the bascinet lacked the necessary flair to grace the heads of Italian err... 'knights'. It was quite common for these barbutes to be covered in leather or, more popularly velvet (probably to match their clothes). One major problem with this was unscrupulous merchants (damn them!) who would cover extremely poor quality metal with high quality material and sell it for top dollar. Surprisingly, very few people came back and asked for a refund.
There are two historical types of Barbute, the T face and the Y face. This is an example of a Y faced barbute, we have added the grilled faceplate for re-enactors who want as much of this helmet visable as possible. The gaps between the bars are less than 1 inch.
The internal circumference of the helmet is 75 cm and it is 22 cm from top to bottom and is made from 14 gauge mild steel.
The AU dollar price can be paid by direct debit, cheque or money order.
The US dollar price can be paid using Paypal.
