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Reinforcing breastplate: HEN.M.115-1933

Awaiting location update

Maker(s)

Production: Unknown

Entities

Categories

Description

Reinforcing breastplate, for use in the tilt in the German fashion (Welschgestech über die Planke nach deutsche Art). Of medially-ridged form, projecting forward over the belly and dipping slightly towards the centre of its lower edge. The neck and arm-openings are shallow. The edges of the latter are flanged inwards very slightly. The right of the breast is pierced a short distance below the armpit with a large vertical slot to fit over a lance-rest. The top of the breast is pierced with three vertically-aligned pairs of threaded holes to bolt on the lower edge of a helmet. Each pair of holes is reinforced at the rear by a vertical strip retained by an externally-flush rivet at its upper and lower end.

Notes

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

Legal notes

J.S. Henderson Bequest

Measurements and weight

Depth: 13.7 cm
Height: 30.6 cm
Weight: 1.753 kg
Width: 33.6 cm

Acquisition and important dates

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

Dating

16th Century, Mid#
Circa 1550 CE - 1560 CE

Note

South German

The lack of holes to receive a grandguard show that this reinforcing breastplate would have been used with a shoulder-shield (Stechtartsche) in the German, rather than the Italian, fashion.

The surface is heavily pitted and patinated overall, with some delamination of the metal at the right shoulder and the centre of the belly.

Components of the work

Main Plate
Parts

Materials used in production

Steel

Techniques used in production

Hammered : Of medially-ridged form, projecting forward over the belly and dipping slightly towards the centre of its lower edge; hammered, shaped, riveted
Patinating
Formed

Inscription or legends present

Inscription present: inverted

  • Text: 67
  • Location: Inside, top right
  • Method of creation: Painted in red
  • Type: Number

Identification numbers

Accession number: HEN.M.115-1933
Primary reference Number: 18593

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Wednesday 11 January 2023

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Applied Arts

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Reinforcing breastplate" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/18593 Accessed: 2024-05-02 21:16:25

Citation for Wikipedia

To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:

{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/18593 |title=Reinforcing breastplate |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-05-02 21:16:25|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

API call for this record

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https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/objects/object-18593

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