A Late Fourteenth-Century Transitional Kettle-Hat Found in London

Abstract

Amongst the armour in the collection of the British Museum is a kettle-hat (Object Number: P&E 1856,0701·2243) that was found in London during the second quarter of the nineteenth century. In January 2010, the kettle-hat was conserved before its loan to the Royal Armouries Museum for display at the Tower of London. New findings that occurred during conservation led to the most in-depth technical examination and analysis of this relatively unknown helmet since its discovery.

This paper aims to interpret the British Museum’s kettle-hat from art historical perspectives in order to place it in a wider context. The development of the kettle-hat during the 14th and 15th centuries is described along with the subsequent derivatives of transitional or progressive forms of helmet. Through stylistic comparison and consideration of related evidence it is suggested that the British Museum kettle-hat dates to the late 14th century and is of western European, possibly English, workmanship. Furthermore, although the British Museum helmet has much in common with typical forms of kettle-hat, it also has features, such as a short tail-piece, that suggest it may be closely related to some early forms of sallet.

Keywords:

• Kettle-hat
• late fourteenth-century
• London
• vermilion decoration
• transitional form
• sallet

My grateful thanks are due to those who assisted during the preparation of this paper. From the Royal Armouries, I must thank Stuart Ivinson (Assistant Librarian) and Chris Smith (Senior Conservator, the Tower of London). From the British Museum, thanks are due to Marilyn Hockey (Head of Ceramics Glass and Metals Conservation) and, from the Department of Pre-History and Europe, I would like to thank Dr Silke Ackermann (Curator: Scientific Instrument Collections), Barry Ager (Curator: Continental Early Medieval Collections), Dr Louise Devoy (Curator), Virginia Smithson (Senior Administrator) and Andrew Basham (Administrator). Thanks are also due to Dr Stephen Goodall, Catherine Hood and Rose Lees. I am especially grateful to Dr Tobias Capwell (Curator of Arms and Armour at the Wallace Collection, London) and Thom Richardson (Keeper of Armour and Oriental Collections at the Royal Armouries, Leeds) for commenting on late drafts of this paper.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jamie Hood

Jamie Hood gained his bachelors degree in Conservation and Restoration from the University of Lincoln in 2006. During the third year of his undergraduate study he completed an internship in the Department of Conservation at the Royal Armouries, Leeds, and then after graduating went on to work at the Museum as an Objects Conservator. In early 2009 he joined the British Museum as a Metals Conservator, where he works with both historic and archaeological metalwork. Address: Department of Conservation and Scientific Research, The British Museum, Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3DG, UK. Email: [email protected].