Wallace PigFace Bascinet

The Wallace Collection is an internationally outstanding collection which contains unsurpassed masterpieces of paintings, sculpture, furniture, arms and armor, and porcelain. Built over the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries by the Marquesses of Hertford and Sir Richard Wallace, it is one of the finest and most celebrated collections in the world.

So that it could be kept together and enjoyed by generations of visitors, the collection was given to the British Nation in 1897. This Wallace Collection Bascinet is inspired by the “A69 Visored Helmet (bascinet)” in the Wallace Collection.

The Barbuta is a design with a rich history. It was developed in Italy, originating from the Bascinet medieval armor, which itself had evolved from a steel skull cap worn under the great helm. During combat most soldiers removed the great helm as to not hinder their agility and visibility, eventually discarding it completely for the simpler and more manageable The design harkens back to the Corinthian helmets worn in the Greek empire. This is believed to have been caused by a renewed interest in classical history and literature.