Pauldron: HEN.M.12E-1933

Maker(s)

Unknown

Entities

• Pauldron

Categories

• Armour

Description

Pauldron for the right shoulder, for field use, with etched decoration. Formed of seven, medially-ridged lames that overlap outwards from the third, which is shaped to the point of the shoulder. The first to third lames extend inwards over the chest and back. The third lame is expanded downwards to the level of the bottom of the fifth lame at the front, and to the level of the bottom of the seventh lame at the rear. The expanded portions have strongly rounded lower inner corners and are flanged at their outer edges where they overlap the lames beneath them. The expanded portion at the rear shows several small rust-perforations. The fourth to seventh lames extend only to the inside of the arm. The rear end of the second lame is broken away and has been restored with a riveted internal patch. The first to third lames are connected to one another at their front and rear ends by modern round-headed rivets with square internal washers. A vacant rivet or wiring-hole is pierced in the first lame, just to the inside of the rear rivet that connects it to the second lame. The third to seventh lames are connected to one another by modern, round-headed sliding-rivets with square internal washers at their rear ends, and by modern internal leathers at their front ends and centres. The leathers are secured by single rivets, all of which are externally-flush, except for those in the third lame which are round-headed with square internal washers. The leathers would originally have been secured to the third lame by pairs of rivets. The unused second hole is in each case plugged by a round-headed rivet, as is a further hole located just above the front leather. A later rivet or wiring hole is pierced in the third lame, just to the inside of the rear rivet that connects it to the second lame. Construction-holes in the third to seventh lames, aligning with the underlying rivet-holes for the attachment of the front leather, are fitted with purely decorative, modern round-headed rivets. The main edges of the first to third lames are bordered by a total of seventeen modern, round-headed lining-rivets, of which ten are fitted with square internal washers. Attached to the first lame, at the apex of the shoulder, by a modern round-headed rivet with a square internal washer is a single-ended, tongued iron buckle with an oval loop and a plain, round-ended hasp. The buckle served to suspend the pauldron from a strap that issued from the side of the collar. Attached at the rear end of the seventh lame by a single round-headed rivet is a modern single-ended, tongued iron buckle that engages a modern, buff-leather strap attached at the front end of the same lame by a flat-headed rivet with a square internal washer. The buckle has a rectangular loop and a plain rectangular hasp with constricted sides. It is likely that the buckle and strap have been interchanged. The centre of the seventh lame is pierced with a later, or later-enlarged, horizontal, rectangular slot to receive a turning-pin that projects from the turner of the vambrace with which it has been associated in modern times. The seventh lame is pierced towards its front end with a later wiring-hole.
The main edges of the pauldron are decorated with bold, file-roped, inward turns, bordered, in the case of the first to third lames, by roped ribs. The ribs of the third lame issued upwards and inwards from the front and rear of the armpit to either side of the point of the shoulder as a pair of confronted volutes. Similar roped ribs, or partial inward turns, decorate the secondary edges of the lames. The latter are also decorated medially with V-shaped nicks.
The pauldron is etched medially with a vertical band of trophies on a stippled and blackened ground, repeated in narrower bands around its main and subsidiary edges, except at the lower edge of the seventh lame, and within the volutes. The vertical band is bordered to either side by three narrower bands of which the central one is decorated with guilloche, and the outer ones are plain. The narrow bands are bordered to either side by single, narrower, plain bands. The lower edge of the seventh lame is bordered by three narrow bands of which the central one is decorated with a continuous series of circular pellets, and the outer ones are plain. The centre of each volute on the third lame is etched with a roundel containing a portrait bust on a stippled and blackened ground. The front and rear of the third lame are etched with irregular cartouches framed by scrolling sea-serpents and winged herms, and containing trophies on a stippled and blackened ground. Part of the composite half armour HEN.M.12A-J-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 1570 - 1580

Note

North Italian

Since the first lame is shorter than the second lame, and its medial ridge and medial band of etched decoration do not align with those of the latter, it is clear that the first lame is associated with the lames beneath it. Similarly, it is clear from subtle differences in the character of their etching, that the fourth to seventh lames are associated with the lames above them. The fourth lame fits the third lame poorly. In addition, the internal leathers are secured to the fourth to seventh lames by single rivets, but must originally have been secured to the third lame by pairs of rivets. It appears likely from this that the etching of the fourth to seventh lames was added in modern times to make them match the second and third lames.