Armour?

Aqtai · 14th September 2005, 10:48 PM

Hi Brian, I'm glad you could join in.

The one from the Osprey book used to be in the Royal Armouries when they were still in the Tower of London. I actually saw it in 1989, but didn't bother photographing it. The two pieces are still in the Royal armouries, but they have now been separated.

My personal argument for it being a greave is the bit at the lower end, the one which I assume is meant to cover the ankle. If this was a vambrace it would be covering the back of the hand, excellent protection but also restricting wrist movements.

Somewhere in my papers is an old B&W picture I photocopied from an old book on Islamic art, it shows a helmet, bazuband and greave/vambrace thingy attributed to Shah Abbas 1st (all of which presumably are still in the British Museum). In this rather old photo they all seemed to be part of a matching set, which raises the question why would a single set of armour need two different types of vambrace?

14th September 2005, 10:48 PM	#15
Aqtai Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Merseyside, UK Posts: 222	Hi Brian, I'm glad you could join in. The one from the Osprey book used to be in the Royal Armouries when they were still in the Tower of London. I actually saw it in 1989, but didn't bother photographing it. The two pieces are still in the Royal armouries, but they have now been separated. My personal argument for it being a greave is the bit at the lower end, the one which I assume is meant to cover the ankle. If this was a vambrace it would be covering the back of the hand, excellent protection but also restricting wrist movements. Somewhere in my papers is an old B&W picture I photocopied from an old book on Islamic art, it shows a helmet, bazuband and greave/vambrace thingy attributed to Shah Abbas 1st (all of which presumably are still in the British Museum). In this rather old photo they all seemed to be part of a matching set, which raises the question why would a single set of armour need two different types of vambrace?