Skip to main content

Breastplate (body armour): HEN.M.116-1933

Object information

Awaiting location update

Maker(s)

Unknown (Possibly)

Entities

Categories

Description

Breastplate, for infantry use. Formed of a medially-ridged main plate and a waist-lame of deep-bellied form. The main plate has concave neck and arm-openings. The neck-opening has a file-roped inward turn bordered by a V-shaped rib enclosed by a pair of incised lines. The arm-openings are each bordered by an incised line and pierced at their upper and lower ends with a rivet-hole for the attachment of a missing gusset. Pierced just below each armpit is a later wiring-hole. Pierced to either side of the neck-opening is a rivet-hole for the attachment of a missing shoulder-strap. Overlapping the lower edge of the main plate, and attached to it at either side by a modern round-headed rivet, is a deep waist-plate which is bordered at its upper edge by a single incised line, and flanged outwards at its lower edge to receive a skirt. The flange is pierced at either side with a rivet-hole for the attachment of a missing skirt. Later wiring-holes are pierced just to the outside of each of these rivet-holes, and to either side of the waist, just above the angle of the flange.

Notes

History note: From the armoury of the Earls of Pembroke, Wilton House, Wiltshire, sold by Sotheby's, London, 10 July 1917, 23 June 1921 and 14 June 1923. Mr James Stewart Henderson of 'Abbotsford', Downs Road, St Helen's Park, Hastings, Sussex.

Legal notes

J.S. Henderson Bequest

Measurements and weight

Depth: 18.0 cm
Height: 45.3 cm
Weight: 4.19 kg
Width: 36.3 cm

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1933-03-16) by Henderson, James Stewart

Dating

16th Century, Mid#
Production date: circa AD 1555

Note

The breastplate is bright with a mottled patination suggesting that its surface originally showed a ' black from the hammer' finish.

Possibly English or Flemish

Components of the work

Decoration
Main Plate
Parts

Materials used in production

Steel

Techniques used in production

Hammered : Formed of a medially-ridged main plate and a waist-lame of deep-bellied form; hammered, shaped, riveted, with file-roped and incised decoration
Patinating
Formed

References and bibliographic entries

Identification numbers

Accession number: HEN.M.116-1933
Primary reference Number: 18594
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Friday 20 April 2012 Last processed: Thursday 7 December 2023

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Applied Arts

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Breastplate (body armour)" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/18594 Accessed: 2024-11-22 02:19:06

Citation for Wikipedia

To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:

{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/18594 |title=Breastplate (body armour) |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-22 02:19:06|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

API call for this record

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-18594

Sign up for updates

Updates about future exhibitions and displays, family activities, virtual events & news. You'll be the first to know...