Cuirassier armour

These elements belong to a once very rich French armour, probably made for one of the French kings or at least a high-ranking member of the royal court. The close-helmet, breastplate with hinged attachment for the tassets, the backplate, and the back of the gorget of this armour are in the Musée de l' Armée, Paris (respectively inv. nos. H.Po.584, G.Po.584, G.Po.1416, and G.Po.2579). Three lames from the upper section of the right tasset are in the Museo Stibbert, Florence (1917-18 cat., no. 3266). A complete armour of very similar design is in the Metropolitan Museum, New York (Inv. no. 27.177.1; Bashford Dean, Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, XXIII, pp. 16-24, fig. 7). This still has its shaffron (inv. no. 22.177.2), while what is almost certainly its saddle is in the Musée de l' Armée, Paris (inv. no. G.577). Its strapwork has a plain surface and the background is rather less crowded than on A64. A pair of gauntlets decorated with a very similar design is in the Royal Armouries (inv. no. II.181; J. S. Gardner, 1898, fig. 22). The whereabouts of the front plate of the gorget, left pauldron, left vambrace and gauntlets, if they survive, are unknown. Although the Wallace Collection pieces are now very worn, the areas between plates, where the original finish has been protected, reveal that this armour was once very elaborately decorated with etching and gilding over all of its exterior surfaces. The decoration takes the form of a characteristically French design comprised, on the main surfaces, of entwined plants, vines, trophies of arms and Classical figures, all gilt, against a ‘pebbled’ and blackened background. The borders of the armour meanwhile are emphasised with narrow bands containing a running-vine pattern against a contrasting hatched ground. The complete armour of which these pieces were a part was designed for heavy cavalry combat, the domain in the 17th century of the ‘cuirassier’, sometimes still armed with the knightly lance but increasingly after c. 1610 with firearms.