- Hello, and welcome to Insider Insights.
I'm Emma Wegner, associate educator in Public Programs
and Creative Practice at the Met.
In this series, we're providing closer looks at objects
from the collection and exhibitions,
as well as a glimpse behind the scenes of the work
of Met experts who interpret and care for them.
Today, we're joined by Edward Hunter, Armorer
and Conservator in the department of Arms and Armor.
Ted is responsible for the care and preservation
of the department's collection.
As supervisor for the Armor Lab, his primary duty is the
treatment and conservation of all types of objects,
including armor, firearms and edged weapons,
as well as fabricating custom mounts for displays.
He received his bachelor's degree in art history
from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a master's
of science and conservation from the University College
London's Institute of Archaeology.
He joined the Met in 2001.
In this Insider Insights, Ted will tell us about a unique
English armor garniture from the time of Henry the Eighth,
he will also share with us the process of dressing the armor
on a mannequin before it was put back on display
in the galleries.
Thank you so much for joining us, Ted.
I'll hand it over to you.
- Hi, welcome to Insider Insights.
I'm Ted Hunter, I'm the armorer and conservator for the Arms
and Armor department at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
I'm here today with my colleagues, Sean Belair,
Associate Conservator, and Steve Bluto,
our Collections Manager.
Together, we're going to show you how we dress a mannequin
with an armor, in this case, the etched and gilt garniture
made in Greenwich, England at the Royal armor workshop.
Dated 1527, it is the earliest surviving Greenwich armor
and believe to have originally belonged to Henry the Eighth
of England.
This armor was removed from display and disassembled
for photography, so we took the opportunity to update
the mannequin a little bit and to study the armor further.
Today, we're going to go over some of the elements
of the armor, and we'll take you through the reassembly
step-by-step.
Not all of the garniture's elements are displayed
on the mannequin, a few of them are displayed behind it
on the wall, these are what is known as exchange pieces,
extra elements that can be added or removed according
to the needs of the wearer.
A garniture like this one would have had these extra pieces
so it could be configured for battlefield use
or for different tournament events.
This includes this locking gauntlet,
which prevents dropping a sword during the tourney combat
in a tournament.
The outer plates fold around the hand while holding
the sword and lock it in place with internal
and external closures so it won't accidentally open
while in use.
We also have the manifer, a special type of gauntlet
for the joust and two reinforcing pieces
for the breast plate.
We are missing other elements, but we aren't sure how many,
since no records exist of what the armor
was originally equipped with.
At the very least, we are missing the granguard
and passguard, two important elements for the joust.
Examples of these elements can be seen across the room
on the garniture for George Clifford,
the third Earl of Cumberland.
The breast plate reinforce hangs over the front
of the breast plate to provide additional protection.
Here you can see the inside face with the hammer marks
and the patina from the forge.
The reinforce also has an attached lance rest,
which is adjustable using a screwdriver,
a feature found only on one other armor also made
in Greenwich for Henry the Eighth.
The lance rest and breastplate reinforce aren't needed
for field use or foot combat, so it comes off
to save weight.
The armor as it now exists is made up of a total
of 21 remaining pieces, with a few extra removable plates.
The main elements of the armor are laid out here,
ready for us to get started.
You can see the sabatons, greaves, cuisses,
breast and back plates, pauldrons, vambraces,
gauntlets and the helmet, all in order of assembly.
The mannequin has been in use a long time,
but it fits the armor well, and so rather than making
a new one, we've just adapted it with some new fabric
and modern foam padding.
Starting with the feet, we first attach the sabatons,
which are very flexible and worn as a covering
over the shoes.
The many lames allowed the wear to move easily
and still protect the feet.
The sabatons also have attached spurs.
This use of small strips of metal or lames riveted together
to make flexible joints is a common way of making armor
at the time, but this particular armor uses more lames
and more complex joints than you would usually find.
That flexibility is present here in the knees as well,
which are part of the shin guards or greaves.
These knees have wide extended wings along the sides
of each knee for added protection.
The thigh protection, called a cuisse, attaches to the top
lame of the knee, making the whole leg defense
into one integrated piece.
Normally the wearer would have had on an arming doublet,
a padded coat that not only protects the body,
but also makes the armor more comfortable to where.
It would have some attached laces called arming points
that would be used to tie the tops of the cuisses in place
as well as other elements of the armor.
Leather straps secure the cuisse to the leg.
The torso is protected by a back plate and breast plate.
On most armors, these two connect directly to one another
and the weight is carried mostly on the shoulders.
On this armor, the back plate would have been attached
to a special ventral plate with a set of internal leather
straps to keep the metal shoulder straps off the body.
Then the breast plate attaches to the ventral plate
using the center bolt.
This is designed to better distribute the weight
over the body.
We aren't using it here because the plate is normally
displayed on the wall next to the other exchange pieces
so visitors can see it.
This unusual ventral plate is another feature
found surviving only on one other armor,
again made for Henry the Eighth and now
in the Royal Armouries collection.
The metal shoulder straps lock into place,
and then there's a hinged clasp on each side
of the breast plate, as well as additional posts
with swivel hooks.
The gorget, or neck defense is next.
Most armors have the gorget under the breast
and back plates, but here are the gorget rides on top,
locking in place with a series of posts with swivel hooks.
This armor in particular, Greenwich made armors in general,
are known for their extra hooks and closures,
added to provide as much safety and redundancy as possible.
The arms are next.
Again, like the sabatons, the vambraces are equipped
with many lames to provide maximum protection
while still providing flexibility and ease of movement.
The arm can open and close, bending, and even turn
side to side easily.
The inner face of the vambrace can be opened to make it easier
to put on.
This vambrace also has a number of smaller plates
that can be added or removed, intended to provide extra
protection to places like the elbow as seen here.
Like the cuisses, vambraces would tie to the arming doublet
with points, but since we're not using the doublet
on the mannequin, they just get tied to some eye hooks
to hang from.
Getting the arms to the right position is important
at this stage, too high or too low, and the armor
will look strange.
Get it just right, and the entire armor appears
more realistic and natural.
Next, we hang the pauldrons, or shoulder defenses
over the tops of the vambraces.
This protects the shoulder and the armpit,
as well as the doublet and points, while still allowing
for freedom of movement for the arm.
The right side pauldron is slightly cut away in the armpit
to make room for the lance.
Attaching gauntlets is the trickiest part
of dressing the armor.
Mannequins don't move like humans, and they certainly
don't cooperate for the dressing procedure.
The old mannequin's hands are hard to attach,
but once in place, the gauntlets will hang naturally
and securely.
The pauldrons each hang over a single stud with a cotter pin
that is secured to the edge of the gorget on each side.
This is what lets them move freely in use.
Lastly, we secure them with a buckle around the upper arm.
Because the armor is intended for use in battle
and tournament, it has to be pretty strong.
And so we don't always need to handle it with kid gloves
like we might, if it were fragile.
Squeezing the plates and lames to pop posts into holes
is the only way to close the armor,
and it can seem loud and startling if you aren't used to it.
The helmet for this armor is one of my favorite parts.
Each of the visor sections has an individual spring catch
closure to keep it securely fastened during use.
The visor is covered with hundreds of small holes
to allow for breathing and for vision
and to still protect the face.
The user needs to be able to open it, so the catches
are easily reached when worn, but there's no risk
of the helmet accidentally opening in a fight.
The catches click firmly when the visor is lowered.
The lower rim of the helmet locks around the top edge
of the gorget, and the helmet closes with a spring catch
on each side.
Once in place, the wearer can turn their heads side to side
easily for better vision.
The helmet is always the last bit we put on.
Once that's done, we visually check the armor,
making sure everything is in place, properly secured
and adjusted.
Next, we carefully lift the armor into the case
and position it with the assistance of a curator
standing outside who can see the whole case
and guide the positioning of the armor to capture
its best look for our visitors.
Another job well done.
(high five)
Finally, here you can see the whole process speeded up.
In a mere 60 seconds, you can see the armor fitted
to the mannequin from bottom to top.
It takes us about 40 minutes to dress an armor,
moving carefully and doing only one section at a time.
It would have been faster originally,
but of course the wearer also needed time to put
on the garments that would be worn under the armor.
So perhaps 10 to 20 minutes, depending on the complexity
of the armor, necessary elements, and the number
of assistants at hand.
Now that the armor is back on display,
we hope we will see you in the galleries soon.
So long, and thanks for watching.