Field Armor Probably of Sir John Scudamore (1541 or 1542–1623)

Armorer Made under the direction of Jacob Halder British

Armorer Helmet, left pauldron, gauntlets, and right sabaton made by Daniel Tachaux French

ca. 1587, restored and completed 1915

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 371

Sir John Scudamore (1541 or 1542–1623) was appointed a Gentleman Pensioner by Queen Elizabeth I (reigned 1558–1603) in 1571 or 1572 and knighted in 1592. This armor probably was commissioned by him in preparation for the threatened Spanish invasion of England in 1588. It was made in the royal workshops at Greenwich during the tenure of Jacob Halder (documented in England 1558–1608) as master armorer.

The remains of this and the later Scudamore armor for his son James (Metropolitan Museum of Art,accession number 11.128.2) were found, badly damaged and incomplete, in 1909, in Holme Lacy, the ancestral home of the Scudamores. The armors were restored and completed in The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1915, by the armorer Daniel Tachaux. The parts made by Tachaux include the helmet, left pauldron (shoulder defense), gauntlets, and right sabaton (foot defense).

Artwork Details

Overview

Provenance

Exhibition History

References

Title:
Field Armor Probably of Sir John Scudamore (1541 or 1542–1623)
Armorer: Made under the direction of Jacob Halder (British, master armorer at the royal workshops at Greenwich, documented in England 1558–1608)
Armorer: Helmet, left pauldron, gauntlets, and right sabaton made by Daniel Tachaux (French, 1857–1928, active in France and America) in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Armor Workshop
Date: ca. 1587, restored and completed 1915
Geography: Greenwich; New York, New York
Culture: British, Greenwich
Medium: Steel, gold, leather
Dimensions: Wt. 68 lb. 8 oz. (31.07 kg)
Classification: Armor for Man
Credit Line: armor: Frederick C. Hewitt Fund, 1911; right thigh and knee defense, and left foot defense: Fletcher Fund, 1922
Object Number: 11.128.1a–p; 22.147.4a, b, .11
Curatorial Department: Arms and Armor

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Rear Plates of the Left Foot Defense from a Field Armor Probably of Sir John Scudamore (1541 or 1542–1623)

British, Greenwich

ca. 1587

Right Thigh and Knee Defense (Cuisse and Poleyn) for the Armor of Sir John Scudamore (1541 or 1542–1623)

Jacob Halder

ca. 1587

Terminal Lame of a Grand Guard from the Armor Garniture of George Clifford (1558–1605), Third Earl of Cumberland

Jacob Halder

1586

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