The Armour Archive

James Arlen Gillaspie

I would like to add that in ALL the artwork of whatever sort I have seen, the cuff of the lining glove of German 'gothic' gauntlets shows no signs of being secured to the cuff of the steel gauntlet.

James Arlen Gillaspie

Oh, so those WERE washer tracks I was seeing in your photos! Try as I might, I could not actually spot a slider slot.

James Arlen Gillaspie

When I examined the A 60 gauntlets, they were mounted on blocks that attached to the ends of the arms of the arming dummy. I did not feel at liberty to remove them. Matthias Goll may have had a far better look at them than I had; there are photos in his book that show their innards. The mounting blo...

James Arlen Gillaspie

I'll take one.

James Arlen Gillaspie

Hello, Sasha, can you point me to some sources? Nicolle first, I would suppose? Boy, do I feel dumb for just thinking of it right now... I don't own it, though.

Now I feel even stupider; the Fatimids were controlling Jerusalem at the time, so it's them I need to find out about.

James Arlen Gillaspie

I know someone doing a documentary who is wondering what the Seljuk Turks in Jerusalem were wearing when the city was taken. I'm thinking something conical, no nasal, could be spangenhelm construction, body armour mail either exposed or cloth covered. Is that about right?

James Arlen Gillaspie

Alas and alack! The 'restored' version is NOT the one my old friend told me about, which had at least two more battle scenes in it!

I was disturbed by the fact that the 'restored' version is 145 minutes long, but the one he was telling me about was, if memory serves, 175 minutes long. Drat!

James Arlen Gillaspie

In my experience, snapped off fan plates on legharness are common, and on arms frequent as well. The next time you make a museum trip, look for them.

Keep an eye out for any other sort of damage you can spot. It's very interesting!

James Arlen Gillaspie

Hallelujah! Miracles still happen!

James Arlen Gillaspie

You're welcome, Chris! It is interesting that such a sliding rivet system exists on at least one real harness, if dating from about 1520, namely the foot combat harness of Henry VIII.

James Arlen Gillaspie

(Flash of flame and smoke) Having been invoked, I suppose I must appear... Heinrich was a successor to Daniel Tachaux, the Met's restorer back when they actually did that sort of thing. The most popular of his works was the mounted horn crested 'frogmouth' helmed 'gothic' tournament harness that use...

James Arlen Gillaspie

There's a perfectly good reason for that, if you put your thinking cap on.

James Arlen Gillaspie

Easy enough to explain, Randall, artwork abounds on the Internet but inventories and other documents are not so prominent!

James Arlen Gillaspie

I am wondering if the tailoring of the sleeve could be a crucial factor. I am thinking of mail sleeves I have handled that had the 'bag' at the point of the elbow, which if you stretched all the links tight, put the sleeve into a bend at the elbow, very much like many surviving pre-1600 garments tha...

James Arlen Gillaspie

I'm in Albany. Every so often I make it over to Worcester (for obvious reasons!); let me know how to contact you if I blow into town sometime.

James Arlen Gillaspie

I'm second in line, if he falls through!

James Arlen Gillaspie

I'll take Mercenaries and Their Masters by Mallett!

James Arlen Gillaspie

Here's another one of those long-haired fellows. No ponytail, though!

James Arlen Gillaspie

I have actually laid hands on that 'great helm' - it is to be found in the Musee de l'Armee's back room, painted black, on the 'Shelf of Shame', with several other famous fakes. It is unbelievably large, which is also true of several of the other fakes. And yes, just to be absolutely clear, they hav...

James Arlen Gillaspie

Whenever armour goes through dealer's hands (also seen this done to stuff from one of Germany' royal houses), it it usually 'cleaned'. What this means is that whatever patina it has on it, even if it is pretty badly corroded, will be removed as much as possible to create as bright a finish as possib...

James Arlen Gillaspie

P.S. BIG thanks for the pic's, Chris! I got some pretty good FILM photos of the 'Seusenhofer' harness last time I was there, but they can't compete with nice big digital imiages. Mac, the third harness was also Germanic (it seems to me that 'Innsbruck' was in part of the description). It was in a ba...

James Arlen Gillaspie

There was a third harness in Paris last time I was there, but it was uglier than the two above.

James Arlen Gillaspie

That's not Philly. That's at the big museum in Munich!

James Arlen Gillaspie

Notice how Wade does NOT repeat NOT have the feet faced straight forward! Straight feet look hyper dorky! Also note that the shoulders are sloped, not straight across!

James Arlen Gillaspie

Very interesting, Mac. I haven't gone that far myself... yet! Something to be aware of; bolts and nuts were very valuable hardware for quite awhile, and very few remain in their original situation. Usually you are looking at a modern replacement that was the best fit for the thread size.

James Arlen Gillaspie

The helm in question is supposed to be one of these. A good profile picture would have helped.

James Arlen Gillaspie

There's lots of interesting Spanish history. How about Diaz De Gamez' biography of his boss, 'The Unconquered Knight' about Don Pero Nino? Or the knight who was with Joan of Arc at Orleans? Or the warriors of the Reconquista, and the final siege of Granada?

James Arlen Gillaspie

Alric, I presume you are aware that many of the folk you photo'd are wearing kit that is VERY post-Agincourt?

James Arlen Gillaspie

C'est moi! Or within a decade or so (fanplates a little forward looking).

James Arlen Gillaspie

You know, it seems to me my comments were way wide of what was asked for. After all, heavily refined iron of munition quality armour of the 15th c. may not have a hang to do with what was being used for shield bosses in the 10th c.! The (Coppergate)(York) helm may be looking really good, but Dr. Wil...

James Arlen Gillaspie

I got my all metal Singer at a garage sale for $1, but robstout has me beat.

James Arlen Gillaspie

Old with a bill slapped on.

James Arlen Gillaspie

The Knight and the Blast Furnace by Dr. Alan Williams has the best data you are going to find. He says that the armour-grade wrought iron has about the same numbers as mild steel. It was very heavily refined, and was the product of continual recycling (could have added carbon from better quality 's...

James Arlen Gillaspie

This is my favorite English Civil War (no, not talking about the Wars of the Roses!) era helmet.

James Arlen Gillaspie

Eastern. Maybe Japanese? Can't see the links well enough to get a clue there. The cloth looks rather Japanese to me.

Re: Correct attachment of gloves to 15th century mitten gaun

Re: Correct attachment of gloves to 15th century mitten gaun

Re: Correct attachment of gloves to 15th century mitten gaun

Re: Arte Gladitoria Dimicandi- on sale (1/2 price)

Re: First Crusade and the armour of the Seljuk Turks

First Crusade and the armour of the Seljuk Turks

Re: Bergman's Joan of arc armour

Re: transition from cop to wing in milanese armours

Re: Bergman's Joan of arc armour

Re: Bergman's Joan of arc armour

Re: Bergman's Joan of arc armour

Re: Knee cop maybe...

Re: to gambeson or not to gambeson

Re: St George - Hradcany Square - Body armour - Thoughts?

Re: Armorers in MA?

Re: HE Black Kidney-shaped Pouch.

Re: A bunch of books for sale.

Re: Where does the medieval long hair/ponytail notion come f

Re: Authentic Riveted Barbute?