German Imperial Era, Enlisted East Asia M1900 Pith Helmet, New Photos
This item is listed for historical interest only. It was listed on our site previously but has been sold and is no longer available for purchase.
Sold for: $995.00

Original era manufacture. This is a restoration project, however the "bones" are great and the major components are present. Adopted in 1900 and worn by the Imperial German troops assigned to East Asia, Tsingtao garrison and similar. The color band indicated troop type, in this instance red denoting Cavalry. The most unique feature of the helmet is the fold-up neck piece produced in five segments which allows the helmet to be comfortably worn while in a prone position. The Good, the helmet body itself is not crushed or cork broken, the neckguard can be turned up and the khaki cloth covered ventilator is present. In addition the green cotton lining is intact, with the wide gray wool-felt sweatband support is present. Also present is an original enlisted quality helmet wappen showing a nice old patina finish over the gilding. The Bad, There is a hole in the fabric covering and cork body right next to the ventilator, this measures 30mm x 20mm. There is staining to the khaki fabric covering but really nothing surprising considering the helmet's age and scarcity. The red wool band is a toss-up, made the proper way and showing minor mothing in it's surfaces, the tri-color cockade is new in my opinion and not magnetic. The helmet wappen is sound but the mounting hooks are missing. The leather sweatband covering is also missing. All in all I think the helmet displays really well in it's present condition and would only need a little tweaking to affix the wappen back in place. Or, simply enjoy it for what it is. This is the first example of it's type to cross our path in our 50 years in the hobby. A question from a fellow collector was presented regarding a makers name on the bottom of the ventilator support ring on the interior. Many of the surviving helmets are marked there with a Ludwig Bortfeldt-Bremen name. Ours is plain, in the Verlag-Militaria book, "German Colonial Troops 1889-1912" by Kraus & Muller, it states on page 513 the following "...The helmets were almost all made by the Ludwig Bortfeldt Company in Bremen.."So, is this example produced by this other unnamed company, or is the ring a simple manufacturing expedient used by Bortfeldt when they ran short of rings during production?