Renaissance armor

[werecow]

A local antique shop has this set of armor on display. I know nothing about armor but he says most of it is genuine (he mentioned last week that some pieces have been replaced but unfortunately I don't recall which and I forgot to ask again) and I thought perhaps someone here would be interested, so I took a few pictures (which for some reason seem to have gotten flipped 90 degrees when I uploaded them here; not sure how to fix that).

Added the harpoon as a bonus. :p

[Jim McDougall]

Interesting looking, must be a cool shop!
A genuine Maximilian style harness like this complete arrangement (most sets of harness are composite at best) would command a small fortune. While I know little on armor, this is really attractive. the Maximilian style was heavily fluted imitating the 16th century fashions.

Looking forward to comments as it would be good to learn more on armor.
My brief exposures to armor, the guy I knew (a then well known arms dealer) was busily dealing with other guys who needed this piece or that to complete a set. There is an entire language of all these parts; pauldrons, tasset, plackart, vambrace etc etc. and it seemed virtually all of them were piecing together sets of armor.

[fernando]

So ... let's flip them back ;)

[cornelistromp]

I took pictures of the interior and exterior to the arms & armor fair in London in 2020 and asked a number of armor specialists (Tobias Capwell, Thomas del Mar and a few others) for their opinion. Their General opinion was that it is a 19th century victorian armour, confirmed also by the skull of the helmet that has been made of 2 riveted parts.

[werecow]

Ah, interesting. The shop owner is not an arms and armor specialist so I guess that could very well be the case.

And thanks Fernando for flipping them back.

[Raf]

A similar set has been doing the rounds recently. Sold by Bonhams in 2021 who described the breastplate as 'probably 1520'.

[ulfberth]

I took pictures of the interior and exterior to the arms & armor fair in London in 2020 and asked a number of armor specialists (Tobias Capwell, Thomas del Mar and a few others) for their opinion. Their General opinion was that it is a 19th century victorian armour, confirmed also by the skull of the helmet that has been made of 2 riveted parts.

Hi Jasper, wo exactly told you it was 19th C because the helmet was made out of 2 seperate parts ?

[werecow]

Interesting looking, must be a cool shop!

Indeed it is! It's a nice place not too far from my home, that's crammed chock full of old trinkets. Kind of like a tiny museum. I stop by there from time to time just to take a little tour around the place. He doesn't have much else in terms of arms and armour, but this set of armour been guarding the door for a few years now. }|<oD

Personally I have no way to judge the age of it, as my only knowledge of armour comes from reading a couple of Ewart Oakeshott books and watching some Matt Easton & Tobias Capwell videos. While I enjoyed that bit of exposure I doubt I could spot a Victorian era replica if my life depended on it.

I'm half tempted to buy the cannon ball, but I suspect I can't lift it. }|:oP

[cornelistromp]

Hi Jasper, wo exactly told you it was 19th C because the helmet was made out of 2 seperate parts ?

Hi Dirk, not the helmet but the skull of the helmet is made out of two parts.

I have shown about 50 photos of in and outsides with all the weights of the individual parts, all specialists thought it to be a 19th century armour. They gave me several substantiations for this. Thomas del Mar pointed out to me that the skull of the helmet is made of two parts riveted together on the comb and not made like 16th century Maximilian helmets formed outof one piece of metal.it is a nice quality armour from the 19th century, unfortunately for me the price was what an original would do.

[fernando]

... I'm half tempted to buy the cannon ball, but I suspect I can't lift it. }|:oP
Is it a stone or an iron ball ? Do you know the diameter ... and or the weight ?

[werecow]

Is it a stone or an iron ball ? Do you know the diameter ... and or the weight ?

I'm pretty sure it's stone, and just from memory and from comparing it to the size of the sabatons in the picture I would guess it was near 30cm in diameter (but I am not great at estimating sizes). I did not attempt to pick it up as I've had lower back pain recently that I did not want to exacerbate, so I can't tell you much about the weight.

But I know even less about artillery than I do about armour, and as with the armour I can't judge the authenticity of it, so I'm unlikely to actually pick it up (both physically and purchase-wise :D).

[fernando]

No problem;i was just trying to compare it with the ones i have. I guess 30 cms. diameter (not perimeter) would be a really huge ball; mine are 19 cms. and weigh circa 8 kilos.
Sorry for your back. By coincidence, mine is also killing me; i am making arrangements for decompression surgery !

[werecow]

No problem;i was just trying to compare it with the ones i have. I guess 30 cms. diameter (not perimeter) would be a really huge ball; mine are 19 cms. and weigh circa 8 kilos.

Indeed. Assuming it's indeed an artillery projectile I'm guessing maybe something for a bombard? But I'm speaking from near total ignorance.

Sorry for your back. By coincidence, mine is also killing me; i am making arrangements for decompression surgery !

Good luck with the surgery, I hope it helps!

No worries about me; I'm 41 and it's just a minor (but persistent) ache for now, but my dad has a history of pretty bad back problems that started around this age, and I do have a bit of a hollow back, so I'm mostly just exercising caution.

[fernando]

... Indeed. Assuming it's indeed an artillery projectile I'm guessing maybe something for a bombard?...
Yes, a 'gross' bombard, they call it. An example of gross bombard catalogued in a local museum, dated from the end XV century, would throw a ball with 33,5 cms. weighing 85 arráteis (pounds)= circa 40 Kgs. It would need some 12 Kg. of black powder to be sent off such 1500 Kgs. rought iron tube.