Shaffron (Horse's Head Defense)

Attributed to Romain des Ursins Italian

Not on view

This is a rare example of a late Gothic shaffron preserved with its matching crinet also in the Metropolitan Museum's collection (acc. no. 14.25.1662). The combination of the shaffron's slender, pointed shape and its radiating ridges, together with the Italian-style armorer's marks, suggests that it is a work alla tedesca (in the German fashion) by an Italian master. The mark, an orb surmounted by a cross above the letters ROM ROM, has been attributed to the Milanese armorer Romain des Ursins, who appears to have supplied armor to the French court. (The ear and eye guards, bottom lame of the crinet, and mail fringe are ninteenth-century restorations.)

Shaffron (Horse's Head Defense), Attributed to Romain des Ursins (Italian, Milan, recorded in Lyon 1493–95), Steel, textile, Franco-Italian

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Shaffron (Horse's Head Defense), Attributed to Romain des Ursins (Italian, Milan, recorded in Lyon 1493–95), Steel, textile, Franco-Italian
Shaffron (Horse's Head Defense), Attributed to Romain des Ursins (Italian, Milan, recorded in Lyon 1493–95), Steel, textile, Franco-Italian
Shaffron (Horse's Head Defense), Attributed to Romain des Ursins (Italian, Milan, recorded in Lyon 1493–95), Steel, textile, Franco-Italian
Shaffron (Horse's Head Defense), Attributed to Romain des Ursins (Italian, Milan, recorded in Lyon 1493–95), Steel, textile, Franco-Italian

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