The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Art Object

The Art of Arms and Armor: Challenges of Research, Display, and Education

As part of a special Sunday at the Met program held in conjunction with the exhibition Bashford Dean and the Creation of the Arms and Armor Department, Dirk H. Breiding, Assistant Curator, discusses challenges faced by the Arms and Armor Department, including widespread misconceptions and the difficulties of displaying weapons and armor that were rarely intended to be viewed in a museum.

The Beyond Battle interactive game is now available for download on iTunes.

Special thanks to Kaos Historical Media for the use of their footage.

Video/Audio (6)

Dressing in Steel: Part One
(00:37:39) 683 views

Dressing in Steel: Part Two
(00:20:04) 274 views

A Visit to the Armor Galleries
(00:30:21) 4358 views

Bashford Dean and the Creation of the Arms and Armor Department, 1904–1929
(00:30:12) 226 views

The Art of Arms and Armor: Challenges of Research, Display, and Education
(00:33:09) 320 views

Curators, Collectors, and Dealers: The Growth of the Arms and Armor Collection, 1929 to the Present
(00:36:37) 207 views

Wheellock pistol

Date:: ca. 1560–70
Culture:: German, Augsburg
Medium:: Steel, etched and gilt; gilt copper, wood, horn
Dimensions:: Caliber, .49 in. (12.45 mm) Weight, 4 lb. 4 oz. (1928 g) Length, 20 3/8 in. (51.74 cm) Length of barrel, 13 7/16 in. (34.11 cm)
Classification:: Firearms
Credit Line:: Rogers Fund, 1904
Accession Number:: 04.3.189

This artwork is currently on display in Gallery 375

Description

The sheathing of the stock in plaques of gilt copper with raised strapwork ornament is highly unusal but recalls clock cases, powder flasks, and other decorative metal objects made in Augsburg.
Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Marking: Stamped on the barrel with the Augsburg fir cone mark, and a second mark consisting of a shield with a bird.
Provenance

Ex. coll.: Duc de Dino (K 1).
See also
What
Metal (59,364)

Etching (24,892)

Arms (9,344)

Gilt (9,043)

Iron and iron alloy (6,952)

Copper (6,255)

Iron alloy (3,389)

Steel (3,119)

Firearms (1,112)

Horn (423)

Small arms (378)

Handguns (326)

Pistols (326)
Where
Europe (148,586)

Germany (15,865)

Bavaria (988)

Augsburg (403)
When
A.D. 1400-1600 (20,545)
In the Museum
Arms and Armor (13,084)
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
Central Europe (including Germany), 1400–1600 A.D.