Pair of cuisses and poleyns, for medium field use, with later etched decoration. Each formed of a cuisse of one plate and a winged poleyn of four lames. The medially-ridged, gutter-shaped cuisse has a convex upper edge which is decorated with a file-roped inward turn, bordered by a file-roped rib. Riveted within the upper corner of each cuisse is a modern buff leather strap, the outer of which terminates in a single-ended tongued iron buckle. The outer lateral edge of the cuisse is decorated with a file-roped partial inward turn. The lower edge of the cuisse is overlapped by a poleyn of four medially-ridged lames that overlap outwards from the second which is shaped to the point of the knee and has a small, oval side wing with a medial pucker at its rear. The wing of the second lame and the convex lower edge of the fourth lame are each decorated with file-roped inward turns accompanied by narrow grooves. The secondary edges of the poleyn are decorated with file-roped partial inward turns. Each poleyn shows a rust-perforation at the point of the knee. The centre of the lower edge of the fourth lame of each poleyn is pierced with a later horizontal slot intended to engage the turning-pin of a greave. It is almost certain, however, that these cuisses and poleyns would originally have been worn without greaves.
The cuisses and poleyns are each decorated medially with an etched band of trophies on a blackened and stippled ground, repeated at the upper border of the cuisse. The medial band is bordered to either side by three narrow bands of which the central one is decorated with guilloche. These narrow bands are repeated around the wings of the poleyn. The etching is modern. Part of the composite half armour HEN.M.8A-F-1933
History note: Mr James Stewart Henderson of 'Abbotsford', Downs Road, St Helen's Park, Hastings, Sussex
J.S. Henderson Bequest
Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1933-03-16) by Henderson, James Stewart
16th Century
Production date:
circa
AD 1580
North Italian
The cuisses are bright with a patchy light to medium patination.
These pieces protect the upper legs, cuisses, and the knees, poleyns, and were held in position by leather straps which were buckled up at the back of the leg. They have very characteristic etched decoration in the form of a central band with trophies of arms and scrolled decoration on a stippled background. Originally this was probably gilded and would have been owned by a moderately wealthy knight.
Buckles
composed of
iron (metal)
( modern)
Straps
composed of
leather
( modern)
Right Cuisse
Depth 12 cm
Height 37.8 cm
Weight 0.73 kg
Width 17 cm
Left Cuisse
Depth 13 cm
Height 37 cm
Weight 0.61 kg
Width 16 cm
Decoration
Parts
Plates
Hammered
: Each formed of a medially-ridged, gutter-shaped cuisse of one plate and a winged poleyn of four lames; hammered, shaped, riveted with etched and file-roped decoration
Medially-ridged
Patinating
Forming
Inscription present: tag with number
Inscription present: tag with number
Accession number: HEN.M.8E-1933
Primary reference Number: 17761
Stable URI
Owner or interested party:
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department:
Applied Arts
This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:
The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Cuisses" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/17761 Accessed: 2024-04-24 22:29:39
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/17761
|title=Cuisses
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-04-24 22:29:39|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:
https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/api/v1/objects/object-17761
Accession Number: M.13-1941
Accession Number: M.1.1A-H-1936
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