DOI Heft:
Heft 7
DOI Artikel:Clephan, Robert Coltman: The Wallace Collection of Arms and Armour, [2]
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.37714#0200
184
Zeitschrift für historische Waffenkunde.
III. Band.
The Wallace Collection of Arms and Armour
by Robert Coltman Clephan, F. S. A., F. S. A. Scot.
A Yice-President of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne.
Gallery VI.
his room is larger than
No. VII, and contains
eight cap-a-pie suits
and ten demi-suits,
besides fragments.
Sorne of those des-
cribed as demi-suits
had been used with
leg armour, wliich is missing. The central attrac-
tion is No. 564, a mounted ,,Gothic“ harness', trapped
and barded. (Fig. 1 u. 2). This beautiful suit Claims
special attention; and its general characteristics will
be presented with some detail. No. 555 (Fig. 3) ex-
hibits a rare illustration of the puffed and slashed
style of armour, known in Germany as Pfeifen-
harnisch; and it affords a striking instance of the
persistent habit of the armoursmith of taking his
models from the extreme civil dress of the times,
liowever impractical and unsuitable when repro-
duced in steel. The fashion and cut of armour for
war follows the various changes in the form of the
doublet with great fidelity; but this is less obser-
vable in harness for the tiltyard, which was made
for resisting more definite forms of attack, subjected
to clearly defined rules and limitations. There are
several tilting suits of the last quarter of the six-
teenth Century in this gallery, and some space will
be devoted to their examination; and I will touch
lightly 011 the jousting course for which they were
made. No. 266 is a suit representing a dass of
armour 011 which a wealth of enrichment is lavished,
one indeed where all practical utility has been lost
sight of in the endeavour to present the plastic
art of the later renaissance in profusion. This
purely pageant harness is embossed in high relief,
with allegorical figures and other lines of orna-
mentation. The original russeted surface and gold
damascening liave been rubbed or burnt off;
for this armour suffered greatly by the fire at the
Pantechnichon in 1874. There is a good represen-
tation in this gallery of suits bordering 011 the
middle of the sixteenth Century. No. 233 is one
of these; and is especially valuable from the fact
’) No other short designation has been found for this
dass of armour; and it is uselees to object to the term until
this has been done, though it must be admitted to be inappro-
priate.
of the year of make being inscribed 011 the harness.
The rapiers are very rieh and fine, a large pro-
portion beäring important inscriptions; and the same
remark applies to the other swords and to the
dagffers. There are some highly decorated ron-
daches; and the miscellaneous items, such as hel-
mets, staffweapons, handguns and pistols, are, for
the most part, enriched specimens in their respec-
tive classes. The series of reinforcing pieces (Ver-
stärkungsstücke) for the tilt-yard is important.
Many of the richer specimens of swords; fine iso-
lated pieces of armour; enriched crossbows; and
especially a collection of powder flasks, some of
which date from the best period of the renaissance,
will be found in cases.
Number 564. This fine „Gothic“ armour of
German origin is mounted, and the horse trapped
and barded.
Sir Richard Wallace acquired it from Count
de Nieuwerkerke; who bought it from Mons. E.Juste
of Paris, in 1867, for Frcs. 30000. Herr Picard
of Nuremberg, a dealer, who, when I callecl upon
liim, struck me as possessing a good deal of dis-
crimination, sold it to M. Juste.
Some of the plates are bevelled at the extre-
mities, and when this is not the case they are
bordered with narrow margins of laton or latten
work (Messingarbeit); and all the clasps and hinges
are of this material. The fine mounted „Gothic“
harness in the Musee d’Artillerie, Paris; as also the
suit made by Lorenz Colman of Augsburg, for the
emperor Maximilian I., about 1490, now in the Im-
perial Collection at Vienna, have margins of latten.
The radiating flutings 011 No. 564 are finely
given, and the general effect is characteristic of
both the period and nationality. The tail-piece of
the salade is bordered along both sides with a wide
strip of latten; above which is disposed a row of
brass-headed rivets, which fastened in the lining.
A plumeholder is in the centre of the crownpiece.
The mentonniere (Ansteckbart); which is in two
plates, fastens 011 to the breastplate by a stout
screw, and it is also bordered with latten. The
breastplate is in two plates, the placate being
channelled with flutings; and there is a salient
ridge running down the centre. The roundels over
the armpits are small with radiating flutings of ten
Zeitschrift für historische Waffenkunde.
III. Band.
The Wallace Collection of Arms and Armour
by Robert Coltman Clephan, F. S. A., F. S. A. Scot.
A Yice-President of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne.
Gallery VI.
his room is larger than
No. VII, and contains
eight cap-a-pie suits
and ten demi-suits,
besides fragments.
Sorne of those des-
cribed as demi-suits
had been used with
leg armour, wliich is missing. The central attrac-
tion is No. 564, a mounted ,,Gothic“ harness', trapped
and barded. (Fig. 1 u. 2). This beautiful suit Claims
special attention; and its general characteristics will
be presented with some detail. No. 555 (Fig. 3) ex-
hibits a rare illustration of the puffed and slashed
style of armour, known in Germany as Pfeifen-
harnisch; and it affords a striking instance of the
persistent habit of the armoursmith of taking his
models from the extreme civil dress of the times,
liowever impractical and unsuitable when repro-
duced in steel. The fashion and cut of armour for
war follows the various changes in the form of the
doublet with great fidelity; but this is less obser-
vable in harness for the tiltyard, which was made
for resisting more definite forms of attack, subjected
to clearly defined rules and limitations. There are
several tilting suits of the last quarter of the six-
teenth Century in this gallery, and some space will
be devoted to their examination; and I will touch
lightly 011 the jousting course for which they were
made. No. 266 is a suit representing a dass of
armour 011 which a wealth of enrichment is lavished,
one indeed where all practical utility has been lost
sight of in the endeavour to present the plastic
art of the later renaissance in profusion. This
purely pageant harness is embossed in high relief,
with allegorical figures and other lines of orna-
mentation. The original russeted surface and gold
damascening liave been rubbed or burnt off;
for this armour suffered greatly by the fire at the
Pantechnichon in 1874. There is a good represen-
tation in this gallery of suits bordering 011 the
middle of the sixteenth Century. No. 233 is one
of these; and is especially valuable from the fact
’) No other short designation has been found for this
dass of armour; and it is uselees to object to the term until
this has been done, though it must be admitted to be inappro-
priate.
of the year of make being inscribed 011 the harness.
The rapiers are very rieh and fine, a large pro-
portion beäring important inscriptions; and the same
remark applies to the other swords and to the
dagffers. There are some highly decorated ron-
daches; and the miscellaneous items, such as hel-
mets, staffweapons, handguns and pistols, are, for
the most part, enriched specimens in their respec-
tive classes. The series of reinforcing pieces (Ver-
stärkungsstücke) for the tilt-yard is important.
Many of the richer specimens of swords; fine iso-
lated pieces of armour; enriched crossbows; and
especially a collection of powder flasks, some of
which date from the best period of the renaissance,
will be found in cases.
Number 564. This fine „Gothic“ armour of
German origin is mounted, and the horse trapped
and barded.
Sir Richard Wallace acquired it from Count
de Nieuwerkerke; who bought it from Mons. E.Juste
of Paris, in 1867, for Frcs. 30000. Herr Picard
of Nuremberg, a dealer, who, when I callecl upon
liim, struck me as possessing a good deal of dis-
crimination, sold it to M. Juste.
Some of the plates are bevelled at the extre-
mities, and when this is not the case they are
bordered with narrow margins of laton or latten
work (Messingarbeit); and all the clasps and hinges
are of this material. The fine mounted „Gothic“
harness in the Musee d’Artillerie, Paris; as also the
suit made by Lorenz Colman of Augsburg, for the
emperor Maximilian I., about 1490, now in the Im-
perial Collection at Vienna, have margins of latten.
The radiating flutings 011 No. 564 are finely
given, and the general effect is characteristic of
both the period and nationality. The tail-piece of
the salade is bordered along both sides with a wide
strip of latten; above which is disposed a row of
brass-headed rivets, which fastened in the lining.
A plumeholder is in the centre of the crownpiece.
The mentonniere (Ansteckbart); which is in two
plates, fastens 011 to the breastplate by a stout
screw, and it is also bordered with latten. The
breastplate is in two plates, the placate being
channelled with flutings; and there is a salient
ridge running down the centre. The roundels over
the armpits are small with radiating flutings of ten