Original British Crimean War Era Pattern 1847 7th (The Princess Royal’s) Dragoon Guards Brass Cavalry Helmet with Horsehair Plume - No Liner
 Dragoon Guards Brass Cavalry Helmet with Horsehair Plume - No Liner)
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Original Item: Only One Available. This is a scarce original British Victorian Pattern 1847 heavy cavalry helmet of the 7th (The Princess Royal’s) Dragoon Guards, retaining its brass skull, regimental helmet plate, leather-backed chained chinscales, floral side bosses, and horsehair plume. The interior liner is now completely absent, and the shell exhibits several holes, dents, and distortions from age and service, but the helmet remains substantially complete and retains considerable character.
The Pattern 1847 represented the distinctive Albert-pattern helmet adopted for British heavy cavalry during the early Victorian period. Dragoon Guards and Dragoon regiments wore versions of this brass or white-metal helmet until the introduction of the revised Pattern 1871 headgear. Surviving 1847-pattern examples are considerably less commonly encountered than their later 1871 successors.
This magnificent brass cavalry helmet has an impressive black horse hair plume and front plate of the 7th (The Princess Royal's) Dragoon Guards, first raised in 1688 as Lord Cavendish's Regiment of Horse. It was renamed as the 8th Horse in 1694 and the 7th (The Princess Royal's) Dragoon Guards for Princess Charlotte in 1788. It saw service for two centuries, including the First World War, before being amalgamated with the 4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards, to form the 4th/7th Dragoon Guards in 1922.
This helmet is the much more difficult-to-find Pattern of 1847 and was in use until the introduction of the P-1871. This example is entirely missing the lining but the leather-backed chinscales are still retained, though weak. There are some holes in the shell as shown but the helmet has survived well for its age. The chinscales are held in place by the correct floral bosses. The black horsehair plume is retained and in good order. The front plate bears a belt reading DRAGOON - VII - GUARDS with the royal VR cypher inside for Queen Victoria.
This is only the second of this rare pattern of helmet we have ever offered. The brass peak and bowl showing some slight dents or distortions certainly commensurate with the age making this a very rare Helmet to find.
This example is particularly noteworthy for the combination of its Pattern 1847 construction, brass heavy-cavalry skull, 7th Dragoon Guards regimental plate with VR cypher, surviving chinscales and floral bosses, and early Victorian date range. Although incomplete internally and showing substantial age, it remains an uncommon surviving example of the ornate cavalry headgear worn by the 7th (The Princess Royal’s) Dragoon Guards during the middle decades of Queen Victoria’s reign.
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