Set Of Helmet And Armor For The Imperial Guard's Cuirassiers, Model 1854, Second Empire.

SET OF HELMET AND BREASTPLATE OF THE IMPERIAL GUARD CUIRASSiers, Model 1854, Second Empire. 33445

HELMET with crown, visor, and neck guard made of sheet steel with brass fittings. Crest marked “DELACHAUSSÉE,” serial number “1022,” dated “72” (1872). Visor and neck guard feature a folded brass band straddling their outer edges; the visor is lined with black waxed sheepskin, and the neck guard is lined with green waxed sheepskin. Front band embossed with a crowned “N” resting on two laurel branches. Crest (H 10.5 cm) consisting of: two wings embossed with a series of ten coffers tapering toward the back and edged at the top with laurel leaves; and a mask (width 4.1 cm) embossed at the top with a Medusa’s head. Brass crest ornament trimmed with scarlet horsehair. Mane of black horsehair with a braided plait in the center, length approximately 90 cm. Chin strap with black leather chin pads covered with interlaced rings, featuring rosettes embossed with laurel leaves (Ø 5.3 cm); each rosette is attached to the helmet by a brass screw.
Brass plume holder with a round cross-section, tapering downward and molded with laurel leaves.
Inner cap made of black leather cut into ten wolf’s teeth.

Good condition; the rear mane, the “N,” and the crown were hammered in 1872 and subsequently reshaped.

Steel breastplate consisting of a backplate and a front plate. The front plate is stamped on the outer edge with “324” and then “550,” edged with 21 brass studs; the interior marking is difficult to read.
The backplate is stamped with the same numbers as the breastplate, edged with 39 brass studs, featuring at the top two leather shoulder straps covered with an interlaced brass chain of figure-8 links, secured by a steel clasp and ending in leather pull tabs, and at the bottom a black patent leather belt. Interior marking: “Manuf Imple Coulaux 1856 2T 1L No. 1760.”

Very good condition.

France.
Second Empire.