Archer's Pavise
Production: Unknown
Wood covered with canvas and painted. Slightly wider at bottom than at top, with rounded corners at top. The corners at bottom have been damaged. Square beak at top, cut away to a point below. Flat vertical gutter with sloping sides, down the middle. Painted with St. George and the Dragon. In the border of each corner at the top is a rose in splendour. On the back is a central leather (?) hand-grip which splays out into four ends each attached to the pavise by 3 nails. There is a metal cross-bar at top and a cross-bar of the same material as the hand-grip below the grip. There are four staples and a place for a fifth.
History note: A.W. Cox from whom purchased with the F. Leverton Harris Fund.
Purchased with the Leverton Harris Fund
Height: 113 cm
Method of acquisition: Bought (1943-11-06) by Cox, A.W.
15th Century, Late
Circa
1450
CE
-
1500
CE
The pavise, a large shield, was used by archers or crossbowmen to shelter behind and reload their weapons when attacking the enemy. They were carried into position on the battlefield and then set down and propped up with an iron bar attached to the back of the shield. They could be used on their own or used to make a defensive wall behind which the archers could loose off their arrows and bolts. They are made of wood covered in skin, hide, canvas or similar and were often decorated, usually with the arms of the lord or commander, though here with Saint George and the dragon.
Hand-grip
composed of
leather
( uncertain)
Part
composed of
wood (plant material)
Decoration
composed of
paint
Covering
composed of
canvas
Bottom
Width 66 cm
Accession number: M.20-1943
Primary reference Number: 18716
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) "Archer's Pavise" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/18716 Accessed: 2024-12-26 14:55:38
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/18716
|title=Archer's Pavise
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-12-26 14:55:38|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
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https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/api/v1/objects/object-18716
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