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Portions of a Field Armor

A work made of steel, brass, gilding, leather, and silk velvet textile.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of steel, brass, gilding, leather, and silk velvet textile.

Date:

1588/1590

Artist:

Jacob Halder (English, 1558-1608)
Royal Workshops of Greenwich, England

About this artwork

During the late Middle Ages and Renaissance, some of the finest armorers worked exclusively for royal patrons in the workshops set up to meet their needs. In 1511 King Henry VIII of England established such a workshop at Greenwich Palace outside London, which produced outstanding armor for the English court for over a century. It was staffed largely by German craftsmen, among them Jacob Halder, who was master workman at Greenwich when this half-armor was produced around 1588–90. Made for a high-ranking nobleman, it features crisply decorated bands of etching and gilding and a silhouette mimicking fashionable dress. The shape of the breastplate, broad at the shoulders, narrow at the waist, and dipped at the belly, imitates the peasecod (peapod-shaped) cut of a gentleman’s doublet of the same period. Despite the lavish decoration and exaggerated shape, this armor, intended for the field of battle, was capable of withstanding musket fire. Indeed, it was commissioned in 1588, at the very moment England was preparing for invasion by the Spanish Armada. But to the fashionable noble who commissioned this harness, demonstrating wealth and status was as important as protecting life and limb.

Status

On View, Gallery 239

Department

Applied Arts of Europe

Artist

Jacob Halder

Title

Portions of a Field Armor

Place

Greenwich (Object made in)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1585–1600

Medium

Steel, brass, gilding, leather, and silk velvet textile

Dimensions

H. (mounted with arm defenses): 61 cm (30 in.) Wt. 39 lb. 10 oz. (17.7 kg)

Credit Line

George F. Harding Collection

Reference Number

1982.2241a-f

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

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https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/106377/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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