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Miniature Picklehaube


nkumburis
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All,

 

I hope you enjoyed your weekend. I was at a flea market today and found this miniature picklehaube. Besides that I have no idea how old it is, where it is from etc. I am hoping someone with more knowledge than I can shed some light on it. I look forward to your comments. - Nick K

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I had one that was an inkwell too. There was a glass insert under the spike to hold ink. Mine was French made and had a French bayonet (just like your Yatagahn bayonet) that pierced the front. Yours is also French made I suspect. These are neat and I have not seen one in years.

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Also I tried to pull the top off and it is on there pretty well. Judging based on how light it is, it might not be a ink well.

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Also I tried to pull the top off and it is on there pretty well. Judging based on how light it is, it might not be a ink well.

 

There comes a point to leave well enough alone.

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As per Sarge and Wharfmaster's posts I definitely think it's french. Maybe it was a gift from a frenchman to an american? I'm sure there weren't many french ww1 vets immigrating to central missouri.(thats where i found it) - Nick K

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  • 4 weeks later...
ww1czechlegion

Yes, it is an inkwell, made in France during WW1, as an anti-German propaganda item.

 

I have several variations of these (6 or 7 of them), and an additional one is made to look like a mini Garde du Corps helmet with an eagle instead of a spike. They all originally had little glass tubes fitted inside to hold ink for writing pens.

 

It would have originally had a small leather chinstrap around the front with a couple of brass buckles on the strap, the ends of the strap being attached to the 2-round brass disks on the sides of the helmet.

 

These came with different shaped spikes, and different shaped eagles on the front of them. They usually have a French bayonet stuck through them like this one does. One of mine has a large brass axe stuck into it instead of the normal bayonet one sees.

 

One type is fairly accurate looking for a mini spike helmet, and is engraved on the front visor with "Reims", or the name of other French famous towns that were in the battlefield line-up zone in France.

 

I'm guessing that either your spike is glued down by some previous owner after WW1, or the spike base is fitted exceptionally tight onto the recessed area for it on the top of the helmet.

 

I wouldn't worry too much about trying to pry it off, and I'd just leave it as it is if it were mine, and as suggested by a couple others here.

 

Best Regards,

 

Alan

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  • 3 weeks later...

I had one that was an inkwell too. There was a glass insert under the spike to hold ink. Mine was French made and had a French bayonet (just like your Yatagahn bayonet) that pierced the front. Yours is also French made I suspect. These are neat and I have not seen one in years.

Ditto. I had one that I picked up in Berlin in the '80s and ended up selling it back in the early '90s at Manions if memory serves me correctly.

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