Pauldron: HEN.M.14H-1933

Maker(s)

Unknown

Entities

• Pauldron
• Vambrace

Categories

• Armour

Description

Pauldron and vambrace for the left arm, for field use, composed of elements of a similar period and fashion. The pauldron is formed of seven medially-ridged lames that overlap outwards from the third which is slightly 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 both the front and 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 fourth to seventh lames extend only to the inside of the arm. The main edges of the pauldron are decorated with file-roped inward turns accompanied by a recessed border. The third lame is embossed in relief with a pair of adorsed volutes that issue from the border at the front and the rear of the armpit. The upper edges of the second and third lames, and the lower edges of the third to seventh lames are bordered by single incised lines and decorated medially with V-shaped nicks. The first to third lames are connected to one another by modern, round-headed brass rivets with square or octagonal internal washers at the front, and by brass-capped, round-headed rivets with octagonal internal washers at the rear. The rivet that connects the first and second lames at the rear, lacks its washer. The third to seventh lames are connected to one another and to the turner beneath them by modern, round-headed sliding-rivets with octagonal internal washers at the rear, and by modern internal leathers at the front and centre. The sliding-rivets are of brass-capped iron, except for that which connects the third lame to the fourth lame, which is of brass. The hole occupied by the latter in the fourth lame is repaired with a riveted internal patch. The leathers are secured by single rivets which are all externally-flush except for those in the third lame which are round-headed and of brass with square internal washers. The central leather was originally secured to the third lame by a pair of rivets. The hole for the rear rivet is now occupied by a functionless, brass-capped, round-headed rivet. Construction-holes in the third to seventh lames aligning with the underlying holes for the rivets that secure the front leather are occupied by purely decorative, brass-capped, round-headed rivets. Two later holes pierced in the third lame, four more in the fourth lame, two more in the fifth lame, another two in the sixth lame, three in the seventh lame and one in the turner all served at one time or another to secure the lames to one another when the original connecting rivets and leathers broke. One of the holes in the fourth lame, one in the fifth lame, one in the sixth lame and two in the seventh lame have subsequently been plugged with rivets, while some of the others have been partially closed by hammering. Attached within the apex of the pauldron by a single flat-headed rivet with an octagonal, internal washer is a modern leather suspension-strap that engages a modern, double-ended, tongued iron buckle attached just below it, but externally, by a round-headed brass rivet with a circular internal washer. The buckle has rectangular loops and a rectangular hasp with cropped corners.
The vambrace is formed of a tubular upper cannon with a turner, a one-piece bracelet couter and a tubular lower cannon. The tubular turner has an inward-overlapping join at the rear, secured by two externally-flush rivets. Its upper edge has a file-roped inward turn at the inside of the arm where it is cut away in a shallow, concave curve, while its lower edge is bordered by a raised rib, the hollowed underside of which locks over and rotates on the outward-flanged upper edge of the upper cannon of the vambrace. The upper cannon is of tubular form with an inward-overlapping join at the rear secured by three externally-flush rivets. Its lower edge has a file-roped inward turn at the inside of the elbow where it is cut away in a concave curve. The one-piece couter, which is strongly shaped to the point of the elbow, completely encircles the arm. It has an overlapping join at the rear, secured by two rivets. The couter has been let out in modern times by inserting an extension-plate at the join. The patch is secured within the inner end of the couter by three externally-flush rivets. The outer rivets occupy the holes that originally served to secure the inner and outer ends of the couter to one another. The couter expands to a large wing at the front, and a considerably smaller wing at the rear. Its upper and lower edges have file-roped inward turns accompanied, on the front of the wing, by boldly roped inward turns. The couter is decorated medially with a file-roped raised rib that runs from just behind the point of the elbow to the inside of the elbow at the front, and is enclosed by a pair of grooves. The roped rib has broken through at several points. The couter is connected to the upper and lower cannons by modern internal leathers at the front and the rear. The leathers are secured to each element by single externally-flush rivets, except at the front of the couter where they are secured by a pair of vertically-aligned round-headed rivets of brass fitted with circular brass washers externally and with square iron washers internally. The rivets in the upper and lower cannons have protruding heads that button through slits cut in the leathers. Wiring-holes are pierced just to the inside of these rivets. The upper and lower edges of the couter are also pierced with wiring-holes at the outer end of the front wing. The tapering, tubular lower cannon is formed of an inner and an outer plate: the former fitting within the latter. The plates are connected to one another at the rear by a pair of modern external hinges, and fastened at the front by a plain circular stud riveted midway down the front edge of the inner plate engaging a corresponding hole in the front of the outer plate. The hinges are secured at either end by single brass-capped, round-headed rivets, and are slightly shaped around the rivets at each side. The rivets in the inner plate are fitted with octagonal internal washers. The upper edge of the lower cannon has a file-roped inward turn bordered by a file-roped rib at the inside of the elbow where it is cut away in a concave curve. The lower edge of the lower cannon also has a file-roped inward turn bordered by a file-roped rib. The edge is pierced at the inside of the wrist with a large, modern wiring-hole, for the suspension of gauntlets. Marked differences in the character of the roped edges and the treatment of their borders indicate that the pauldron and upper cannon, the couter and the lower cannon are all associated with one another. Part of the composite armour HEN.M.14A-L-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

The pauldron and vambrace are bright with a light to medium patination overall.