The helmet of a Peer is of steel or silver and gold, the front having bars or grilles instead of a movable vizor, and its pose is profile wise, similar to that of the Esquire’s helmet. Its bars are usually five in number, and attempts to signify exact rank by the number of bars have not resulted in any rules that are observed. The Sovereign and Princes of the Blood Royal have barred helmets of gold which are placed affrontée. The modern reversion to the tournament helm as a support for the crest was begun in the illustrations to Foster’s _Peerage_ by Dom Anselm and Forbes Nixon in 1880 and with what advantage may be seen by inspection of that admirable work. There can be no question of the superior value of the great helm from an artistic point of view. Its strong simplicity makes it especially suitable as a support for a crest that is treated in a bold and expansive manner and its bold curves compose well with the lines of the mantling and shield. The central position which the helm occupies is necessarily an important one, and in order to avoid over-accentuation it should be so designed as to be a link between the shield and the crest, and not be permitted to concentrate attention on itself. The avoidance of such undue prominence is helped by the tilting forward of the helm, a position which tends to make the horizontal lines, of the “sight” for instance, curve upwards and so help the composition, with respect to the crest, while the strong line of the front ridge coming down in the direction of the shield is also valuable. The forward lean of the helm is always noticeable and probably points to its being carried on a staff as already mentioned, for its highest part, which would be the point of support, being usually behind the centre, would tend to throw it forward and so bring it into some approach to the degree of inclination that it would have when it was on the head of a charging knight. The difficulty of dealing with modern crests usually arises from their having been designed with regard only to their representation on flat surfaces, but the problem may be solved to some extent--it is frequently impossible to do so completely--by carefully adjusting the crest and helm to each other and by placing them in the aspect that produces the best effect and at the same time expresses their character most fully; and for this a sketch model in clay or other plastic material will be found very helpful.