The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Art Object

Bashford Dean and the Creation of the Arms and Armor Department, 1904–1929

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, Donald J. La Rocca explains the founding and history of the department.

A zoologist by training, Bashfod Dean was for a time simultaneously a full professor at Columbia University, Curator of Fishes at the American Museum of Natural History, and Curator of Arms and Armor at the Metropolitan Museum. At the Met, he worked initially as a guest curator in 1904, when he was invited to install and catalog the Museum's first significant acquisitions of arms and armor. He continued on as honorary curator until joining the staff full time in 1912 as head of the newly created Arms and Armor Department, rapidly building the collection into one of international importance.

Video/Audio (6)

Dressing in Steel: Part One
(00:37:39) 858 views

Dressing in Steel: Part Two
(00:20:04) 379 views

A Visit to the Armor Galleries
(00:30:21) 4855 views

Bashford Dean and the Creation of the Arms and Armor Department, 1904–1929
(00:30:12) 247 views

The Art of Arms and Armor: Challenges of Research, Display, and Education
(00:33:09) 330 views

Curators, Collectors, and Dealers: The Growth of the Arms and Armor Collection, 1929 to the Present
(00:36:37) 222 views

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Date:: ca. 1510
Culture:: German (Augsburg)
Medium:: Steel
Dimensions:: Height 17 in. ( 43.18 cm)
Classification:: Armor Parts
Credit Line:: Bashford Dean Memorial Collection, Funds from various donors, 1929
Accession Number:: 29.158.154

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Bashford Dean and the Creation of the Arms and Armor Department, 1904–1929

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