[Nathan Quarantillo]

How does a plume holder for a helmet work? Very basics, what IS it, and how would one make, attach or use one? Pictures would be greatly appreciated.

If we wanted to really narrow down a date, let's say 1350 ish, but really any will do.

-Thanks for any help.

[Mart Shearer]

For 1350, you're more likely to find this sort of ornament on a helm used in tourney.

It works by pushing the quill of the feather into a narrow hole to hold it in place. There are a few varieties, but commonly thin sheet is rolled into a cone and soldered or riveted to an attachment plate. An ancient example:
http://p2.la-img.com/482/3026/1299297_1_l.jpg
And a Ren exaple on the back of the helm:
http://www.skinnerinc.com/full/772/833772.jpg
And an Oriental version:
http://www.cowanauctions.com/itemImages/ff8279.jpg

Another method is to have a block or orb with a narrow hole in it, IIRC that's what the pomegranate does here:
http://www.bladeturner.com/picture/creampuff_salet.jpg

Here's some plumage on a bascinet from 1418, Cpg 359 Rosengarten zu Worms
http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/cpg359/0086

Sometimes, the plumes (peacock tail feather "eyes" in this c. 1260 case) seem to be simply stuffed into construction seams:

[Nathan Quarantillo]

Technical question, how does the plume holder actually hold the feathers?

BTW, thank you for the links, they're great.

[Mart Shearer]

Friction? Maybe combined with a little wax... Put a 4mm quill in a 3mm hole.

[Raman A]

[Mark T]

One of Carlo's books also shows a helm with a plume holder as well as two small holes further up the back of the helm so that the plume could be tied on with points.

[Nathan Quarantillo]

Thank you all, this is really good stuff.