DOI Heft:
Heft 6
DOI Artikel:Clephan, Robert Coltman: The Wallace Collection of Arms and Armour, [1]
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.37714#0161
The Wallace Collection of Arms and Armour
by Robert Coltman Clephan, F. S. A,, F. S, A. Scot.
A Vice-President of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne.
collection is very im-
portant, though it can-
not compare in extent,
ränge and historic in- I
terest with the great
national armouries at
Vienna, Madrid, Dres-
den, Paris, Turin, Mu-
nich, Nureinberg and Berlin. It has been brought
together mainly through the instrumentality of the
late Sir Richard Wallace, Bart., whose fine taste is
in evidence throughout. Most of the more impor-
tant collections of recent times, such as the De-
bruge, the Meyrick, the Nieuwerkerke, and the
Spitzer have been largely drawn upon by Sir
Richard in his labour of love: and the entire col-
lection has been bequeathed by his widow, Lady
Wallace, to the British nation. It is displayed at
Hertford House, Manchester Square, London, in
four lofty and well-lighted rooms; and it is essen-
tially the collection of a dilettante; having
evidently been acquired more with the iclea of
illustrating the fine work of the great artists and
armour-smiths, more especially of the renaissance,
rather than the gathering together of the various
types and fashions of that remarkable period with
a view to any system of chronologica! succession
for instruction or comparison; indeed but little heed
has been taken in the present arrangement of the
galleries to carry out such an idea, where as com-
plete a sequence as possible of the different styles'
and periods is of such importance from an educa-
tional point of view.
The condition, so often attached to bequests to
the nation or to municipalities, viz., to keep a single
collection intact and apart, is often unfortunate for
the purposes of the Student; and it is to be regretted
that we cannot have alb the old arms and armour
belonging to the nation disposed and properly classi-
fied in one grand national collection, which would
then compare favourably with any of the great
armouries of Europe.
This collection comprises twerity cap-a-pie har-
i nesses, two of them on bardecl horses; und twenty-
two demi-suits, besides incomplete suits and se-
parate pieces; and it but imperfectly covers the
styles and periods, mainly from the middle of the
fifteenth Century and extending well into the
seventeenth. There is no specimen of tonlet armour
(ä tonne), that is armour with a deep skirt of
taces (lamboys or bases), working on sliding rivets,1)
so as to move upwards and downwards like a
Venetian blind, a style modelled in imitation of
the folds of the cloth bases; a fashion of dress
greatly prevailing after about 1506, as shown in
the Tr i ump h o f Maximilian.
The collection is especially remarkable for the
large proportion of enriched specimens of a highly
artistic character; exhibiting most of the leading
types of ornamentation; such as engraving by hand;
manipulation through the agency of aquafortis;
and repousse work, besides applique and dama-
scened.
The collection is rieh in swords, some of an
early date; most of the exampies are what may
be termed »pageant« weapons (Prunkwaffen) many
of them are demascened in gold, with rieh in-
crustations and figures, some modelled in high
relief.
The staffweapons (Stangenwaffen); and the
handguns (Plandfeuerwaffen) are for the most part
»pageant« in character. Among the former are
many highly ornate exampies from the bodyguards
of princes: while the latter are mostly wheel-lock
(Radschloss) weapons for the hunting-field; most
artisticaily inlaid with bleached stagshorn, and
mother of pearl.
p These are frequently though erroneously termed Almain
rivets; the term was applied to the armour for a foot soldier.
19
by Robert Coltman Clephan, F. S. A,, F. S, A. Scot.
A Vice-President of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne.
collection is very im-
portant, though it can-
not compare in extent,
ränge and historic in- I
terest with the great
national armouries at
Vienna, Madrid, Dres-
den, Paris, Turin, Mu-
nich, Nureinberg and Berlin. It has been brought
together mainly through the instrumentality of the
late Sir Richard Wallace, Bart., whose fine taste is
in evidence throughout. Most of the more impor-
tant collections of recent times, such as the De-
bruge, the Meyrick, the Nieuwerkerke, and the
Spitzer have been largely drawn upon by Sir
Richard in his labour of love: and the entire col-
lection has been bequeathed by his widow, Lady
Wallace, to the British nation. It is displayed at
Hertford House, Manchester Square, London, in
four lofty and well-lighted rooms; and it is essen-
tially the collection of a dilettante; having
evidently been acquired more with the iclea of
illustrating the fine work of the great artists and
armour-smiths, more especially of the renaissance,
rather than the gathering together of the various
types and fashions of that remarkable period with
a view to any system of chronologica! succession
for instruction or comparison; indeed but little heed
has been taken in the present arrangement of the
galleries to carry out such an idea, where as com-
plete a sequence as possible of the different styles'
and periods is of such importance from an educa-
tional point of view.
The condition, so often attached to bequests to
the nation or to municipalities, viz., to keep a single
collection intact and apart, is often unfortunate for
the purposes of the Student; and it is to be regretted
that we cannot have alb the old arms and armour
belonging to the nation disposed and properly classi-
fied in one grand national collection, which would
then compare favourably with any of the great
armouries of Europe.
This collection comprises twerity cap-a-pie har-
i nesses, two of them on bardecl horses; und twenty-
two demi-suits, besides incomplete suits and se-
parate pieces; and it but imperfectly covers the
styles and periods, mainly from the middle of the
fifteenth Century and extending well into the
seventeenth. There is no specimen of tonlet armour
(ä tonne), that is armour with a deep skirt of
taces (lamboys or bases), working on sliding rivets,1)
so as to move upwards and downwards like a
Venetian blind, a style modelled in imitation of
the folds of the cloth bases; a fashion of dress
greatly prevailing after about 1506, as shown in
the Tr i ump h o f Maximilian.
The collection is especially remarkable for the
large proportion of enriched specimens of a highly
artistic character; exhibiting most of the leading
types of ornamentation; such as engraving by hand;
manipulation through the agency of aquafortis;
and repousse work, besides applique and dama-
scened.
The collection is rieh in swords, some of an
early date; most of the exampies are what may
be termed »pageant« weapons (Prunkwaffen) many
of them are demascened in gold, with rieh in-
crustations and figures, some modelled in high
relief.
The staffweapons (Stangenwaffen); and the
handguns (Plandfeuerwaffen) are for the most part
»pageant« in character. Among the former are
many highly ornate exampies from the bodyguards
of princes: while the latter are mostly wheel-lock
(Radschloss) weapons for the hunting-field; most
artisticaily inlaid with bleached stagshorn, and
mother of pearl.
p These are frequently though erroneously termed Almain
rivets; the term was applied to the armour for a foot soldier.
19