Backplate (body armour): HEN.M.6D-1933

Maker(s)

Production: Unknown

Entities

• Backplate (body armour)
• Skirt
• backplate with skirt

Categories

• Armour

Description

Backplate with skirt, for field use. Formed of a main plate, a waist-plate and a skirt-plate. The main plate is slightly shaped to the shoulders and the hollow of the back. Each of its lateral edges overlaps a short side-plate to which it is secured by three externally-flush rivets. The upper edge of the right side-plate is cracked along the line of the overlap. The upper edges of the side-plates form the lower ends of the arm-openings of the backplate. The arm-openings and the very slightly convex upper edge of the backplate have strongly roped inward turns accompanied by a recessed border. The border at the neck descends to a small V-shaped projection at its centre. The upper edge of the backplate is pierced at its centre with a pair of small lace-holes, and at each of its outer ends with three rivet-holes that have at various times served to retain the shoulder-straps. The present, modern shoulder-straps are secured by flat-headed rivets occupying the inner of the three holes. At the right end the upper outer holes remains vacant, and the lower outer hole, possibly the original, is plugged by a modern, round-headed rivet with a circular internal washer. At the left end, the upper outer hole has been filled with a modern, externally-flush rivet, and the lower outer hole with a modern, round-headed rivet. The original hole has broken away with a large part of the upper left corner of the main plate. The recessed border of the right arm-opening has been pierced with a later hole at the overlap of the main plate and the side-plate. The recessed border of the left arm-opening is pierced with a later hole in both the main plate and the side-plate. The outer end of each side-plate is pierced with a pair of later, vertically-aligned rivet-holes. The straight lower edge of the mainplate and its side-plates overlaps a narrow waist-plate to which it was formerly attached by a single rivet at each side. Both of the original rivet-holes in the waist-plate have cracked through to its upper edge, as has a later hole pierced just to the outside of the right one. The waist-plate has therefore been moved to the right and rigidly attached to the mainplate by three crudely-formed round-headed rivets located in later holes between them, and a fourth located in the original left hole of the main plate, and a later hole pierced in the waist-plate. Crudely-pierced, vacant holes are located just to the outside of the second from the left rivet in the main plate, and just below the central rivet in the waist-plate. The hole for the original right rivet in the main plate is filled by a modern, round-headed rivet. Attached at each side of the waist-plate by a single rivet is a leather strap forming a waist-belt. The rivet for the left strap, which terminates in a double-ended, tongued iron buckle, is flat-headed, while that for the right strap, which is more recent, is round-headed with a copper cap and a triangular internal washer. a crude hole is pierced just to the outside of each of these rivets. The lower edge of the waist-plate is flanged outwards to receive the skirt-plate. The angle of the flange is emphasised by an incised line. The right end of the waist-plate is missing. The skirt-plate is attached to the waist-plate by a modern, round-headed rivet with an octagonal internal washer. Its lower edge, which has a strongly roped inward turn accompanied by a recessed border, is cut with a broad, chevron-shaped notch at its centre, and descends to a shallow casp at each side. Its upper edge , which is bevelled, rises slightly to its centre where it is filed with a V-shaped nick. The recessed border is pierced with two later holes at each side. The right lower corner of the waist-plate is broken away. The lower edge of the waist-plate is bent and cracked just to the inside of the cusp at the left side. Part of the composite three-quarter armour HEN.M.6A-G-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, Mid#
Production date: circa AD 1550

Note

South German

The backplate is bright with a medium patination overall. The left side of the skirt shows delamination of the metal.