This armor consists of a mixture of pieces from a large and complex garniture for use in the field and in various forms of tournament. Its principal parts are now divided between the Historisches Museum, Dresden, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
As presently assembled, this armor is made up of elements designed for the field, joust, and foot combat tournament. It includes a close helmet, pauldrons (shoulder defenses), tassets (upper thigh defenses), and gauntlets for the field; a breastplate for the tilt (a joust in which a barrier separated two mounted contestants); and arm and leg defenses with closed joints for foot combat. The armor is attributed to Anton Peffenhauser (1525–1603), the leading armorer in Augsburg, and the etched decoration to Jörg Sorg the Younger (ca. 1522–1603).
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Artwork Details
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Title:Field and Tournament Armor
of Johann Wilhelm (1530–1573),
Duke of Saxe-Weimar
Armorer:Attributed to Anton Peffenhauser (German, Augsburg, 1525–1603)
Etcher:Etched decoration attributed to Jörg Sorg the Younger (German, Augsburg, ca. 1522–1603)
Date:ca. 1565
Geography:Augsburg
Culture:German, Augsburg
Medium:Steel, gold, brass, textile, leather
Dimensions:Wt. 61 lb. 1 oz. (27.7 kg)
Classification:Armor for Man
Credit Line:Bashford Dean Memorial Collection, Gift of Helen Fahnestock Hubbard, in memory of her father, Harris C. Fahnestock, 1929
Accession Number:29.155.2
Friedrich-Wilhelm I, Duke of Saxe-Weimar, Weimar (until d. 1602; by descent through the Dukes of Saxe-Weimar, Dukes of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, and Princes of Prussia to Prince Heinrich); Prince Heinrich of Prussia, Burg Rheinstein, Trechtingshausen, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany (from 1902; sold to Wilbrand (?) for Dean); Bashford Dean, New York (by 1921–d. 1928; sold by his estate to Hubbard); Helen Fahnestock Hubbard, Bronx, New York (1929; her gift to MMA).
Augsburg. Rathaus. "Welt im Umbruch: Augsburg zwischen Renaissance und Barock," June 28–September 28, 1980, no. 931 (Attributed to Anton Peffenhauser, armorer, and Jörg Sorg the Younger, etcher).
Augsburg. Zeughaus. "Welt im Umbruch: Augsburg zwischen Renaissance und Barock," June 28–September 28, 1980, no. 931 (Attributed to Anton Peffenhauser, armorer, and Jörg Sorg the Younger, etcher).
Lehfeldt, Paul, and Georg Voss. "Herzogthum Sachsen–Altenburg: Westkreis, Amtsgerichtsbezirk Roda, Kahla und Eisenberg." Bau– und Kunst–Denkmäler Thüringens (1888), p. 581, ill.
Lehfeldt, Paul. "Herzogthum Sachsen–Altenburg:Amtsgerichtbezirke Ronneburg und Schmölln." Bau– und Kunst–Denkmäler Thüringens (1895), pp. 131–32.
Boeheim, Wendelin. Meister der Waffenschmiedekunst vom XIV. bis ins XVIII. Jahrhundert. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Kunst und des Kunsthandwerks. Berlin: W. Moeser, 1897. pp. 120, 238, ill.
Ehrenthal, Max von. Führer Durch das Königliche Historische Museum zu Dresden. 3rd ed. Dresden: Wilhelm Baensch, 1899. p. 54, no. 5.
Kunsthistorische Ausstellung. Illustrirter Katalog. Düsseldorf: August-Bagel-Verlag, 1902. p. 190, no. 2797 (presumably this armor, lent by His Royal Highness Prince George of Prussia, Burg Rheinstein).
Loßnitzer. "Gedenktag und Gedenkenstücke Herzog Bernhards von Weimar." Thüringer Kalender (1904).
Diener-Schönberg, Alfons. Die Waffen der Wartburg: Beschreibendes Verzeichnis der Waffen–Sammlung S.K.H. des Grossherzogs Wilhelm Ernst von Sachsen–Weimar-Eisenach. Berlin: Historischer Verlag Baumgärtel, 1912. no. 139, pl. 48.
Haenel, Erich. Kostbare Waffen aus der Dresdner Rüstkammer. Leipzig: Hiersemann, 1923. p. 16, pl. 8.
Dean, Bashford, and Robert T. Nichol. Handbook of Arms and Armor : European and Oriental, edited by Stephen V. Grancsay. 4th ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, October 1930. p. 148.
Grancsay, Stephen V. Loan Exhibition of European Arms and Armor: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, August 3 to September 27, 1931. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1931. pp. 5–6, no. 9, ill.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, Stephen V. Grancsay, and Carl Otto von Kienbusch. The Bashford Dean Collection of Arms and Armor in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Portland, ME: Southworth Press for the Armor and Arms Club of New York City, 1933. pp. 92–95, no. 13, pl. XXIV.
Neuhaus, August. Ein Prunkturnierharnisch im Germanischen Nationalmuseum. Leipzig: Koehler, 1937. p. 11.
Mann, James G. "The Etched Decoration of Armour: A Study in Classification." Proceedings of the British Academy (1940), p. 27.
Grancsay, Stephen V. "The New Galleries of European Arms and Armor." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin (May 1956), p. 228, ill.
Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern, International Council of Museums, Rathaus, and Zeughaus. Welt im Umbruch: Augsburg Zwischen Renaissance und Barock. Vol. II. Augsburg: Augsburger Druck- und Verlagshaus, 1980. pp. 524–25, no. 931, ill.
Grancsay, Stephen V., and Stuart W. Pyhrr. Arms & Armor: Essays by Stephen V. Grancsay from the Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 1920–1964. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1986. pp. 59–67, fig. 21.7.
Pyhrr, Stuart W. "Of Arms and Men: Arms and Armor at the Metropolitan, 1912–2012." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin (Summer 2012), p. 30, fig. 46.
The Wall Street Journal. "Sights in Shining Armor." The Wall Street Journal (December 28, 2012), p. C12, ill.
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