What a fantastic example Ed! and especially with such distinguished provenance, being from the Tower Armouries and handled by these most respected gentlemen!
It is indeed as you have noted, extremely rare to find armour which is homogenous, especially this old! It would seem to me that even in its working life, harness must have quickly become composite as elements became damaged and were likely substituted with replacement components as could be fashioned or found.
I am curious about the Nuremberg mark, is this the 'view' mark or guild mark, or these actually one in the same?
It seems that Nuremberg was the most prominant armour center of the time, very much as Solingen became for sword blades. Apparantly this 'Almain rivet' is a term specifying this form of German light armour which was ideal for flexibility, and Henry VIII ordered a considerable complement for his forces. It is remarkable to find examples like this as I understand most of this armour became cannon fodder quite literally, much as with way too much important weaponry!
Thank you for sharing this fantastic piece, and for the great illustration and graphics, which show clearly its status and components.
I agree that we should bring in some comparitive discussion concerning the potential for fake items, which are quite separate from reproduction items. In Victorian times, copies of armour was produced for display in gentlemans smoking rooms and baronial parlors, with the first person coming to mind being Ernst Schmidt of Munich. His atelier produced I think from the 1870's to the 1930's I believe, and Andrew Mowbray wrote a book on his work. If I recall, this reference does compare items side by side and is really interesting.
All best regards,
Jim
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