Backplate and Hoguine (Rump Defense) from a Costume Armor

Backplate and Hoguine (Rump Defense) from a Costume Armor

Backplate and Hoguine (Rump Defense) from a Costume Armor

Armorer:
Kolman Helmschmid (German, Augsburg 1471–1532)
Date:
ca. 1525
Geography:
Augsburg
Culture:
German, Augsburg
Medium:
Steel, gold
Dimensions:
H. 27 in. (68.6 cm); W. 18 in. (45.7 cm)
Classification:
Armor Parts
Credit Line:
Gift of Bashford Dean, 1924

This armor reproduces in steel the extravagant puffed and slashed costume of the German Landsknechte (mercenary infantry troops). The matching pieces are preserved in the Musée de l'Armée, Paris. Coming from the Radziwill armory in Nesvizh in present-day Belarus, this armor may have been made for Jerzy Herkules Radziwill (1480–1541), a powerful Polish nobleman.

Provenance
Ex. coll.: Radziwill armory, Nesvizh, Belarus; Pollak and Winterwitz, Vienna; Alfred Juritzki-Warburg, Krystall-Verlag, Vienna; Bashford Dean, New York.

Copyright Image
https://images.metmuseum.org