Breastplate (body armour): HEN.M.117A-1933

Maker(s)

Production: Unknown (Possibly)

Entities

• Breastplate (body armour)

Categories

• Armour

Description

Breastplate, for medium or light field use. Formed in one piece, in the `peascod' fashion. The neck and arm-openings have roped inward turns accompanied by shallow, recessed borders. The border at the neck descends as a V-shaped projection at its centre. The turn at the left arm-opening is damaged just below its centre. Pierced at each shoulder is a rivet-hole for the attachment of a shoulder-strap. The hole is now occupied by a modern round-headed rivet. A similar rivet with a square, external washer, occupying a later hole pierced just above it, retains a modern strap and double-ended, tongued, iron buckle with simple filed decoration. The lower edge of the breastplate is flanged outwards to receive a skirt. The flange is pierced at either end with a rivet-hole for the attachment of the skirt. The left hole is occupied by a later rivet with a flat, internal head. The centre of the flange is cusped and pierced with a further rivet-hole, possibly for an internal connecting leather that ran down the centre of the skirt. Riveted about two-thirds of the way along each side of the flange is a modern hook, formed of a strip of sheet metal, probably intended to support a belt. A hole, now plugged by a modern, externally flush rivet, is pierced at either side of the chest. The hole was probably intended to receive a pierced stud to engage a shoulder-strap in the seventeenth century fashion, suggesting that the breastplate had an extended working life. Together with the backplate HEN.M.117B-1933

Notes

History note: Mr James Stewart Henderson of 'Abbotsford', Downs Road, St Helen's Park, Hastings, Sussex.

Legal notes

J.S. Henderson Bequest

Acquisition and important dates

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

Dating

16th Century, Late
Circa 1575 - 1580

Note

The breastplate is bright with light to medium pitting and patination overall.

This breastplate is very long and has the characteristic ‘peascod’ shape, where the lower abdomen is emphasised. This fashion was copied from civilian men’s doublets in the early Elizabethan period which were padded over the lower stomach to create a ‘pouter pigeon’ or peascod silhouette.

Possibly Flemish