What I did at school today

Jon Marshal · Post by **Jon Marshal** » Mon Apr 22, 2002 1:45 pm

Check out this kids report of the Higgins Museum at http://www.crockerfarm.org/ac/rm02/Higgins/Higgins2.htm
These are the Luckiest kids I have ever seen, if this stuff is in fact not reproductions. They seem to be authentic pieces. Now I know where I can go to see and feel the old stuff.
Jason

Watt · Post by **Watt** » Mon Apr 22, 2002 2:00 pm

I very much doubt this stuff is authentic. If it were it would be under glass and a security system. See that Roman helm there on the ground? A Roman helm in that condition would be worth more than I will make in 10 years.

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Watt

Jon Marshal · Post by **Jon Marshal** » Mon Apr 22, 2002 3:23 pm

You are probobly right, the gloves made it convincing for me. If nothing else they get to see and feel what are hopefully realistic weight reproductions, and that, for me, is a kick ass feild trip, beats the hell out of going to the planetarium, but that might just be me.
Thank you for your astute criticism
Jason

Jacob · Post by **Jacob** » Mon Apr 22, 2002 3:35 pm

There is authentic armour there. The things that kids are allowed to wear and handle are reproductions. A number of the display pieces are modern but made by top-end reproduction armourers. Those are very lucky kids. I'd like to get there sometime.

PS-- I'm sure the gloves just minimize the amount of polishing required with all of the people handling the steel.

[This message has been edited by Jacob (edited 04-22-2002).]

Alcyoneus · Post by **Alcyoneus** » Mon Apr 22, 2002 4:29 pm

Personally, I'd like more info on the "party" armor.

Think of the price the "1000 yr old mail" would fetch!

wcallen · Post by **wcallen** » Mon Apr 22, 2002 4:31 pm

Chef might be able to tell us for sure but when I was there last.....

The armour they actually got to play with was modern reproduction - some of it from earlier in the 20th c. and some of it by later armourers you might have heard of. I know that we made some of it - though when I was there it was being used for the play area and in the travelling show and not in the local shows.

Something like that roman helmet would be very rare. Some of the other stuff is just kind of valuable - but not really that rare (you know, not like the Mona Lisa).

Armour comes up for sale all the time. Usually it is bits and pieces, and usually not very nice, but it is available. Much of the real stuff is not under glass - just away from where we can get to it.

I know of 4 purported bascinets, 1 barrel helm, a brigantine, a barbute, a Max harness and some other stuff for sale at the moment. You could probably have it all for a couple of hundred thousand dollars total. That is a lot of money (way more than I have), but not really that much in the grand scheme of things.

Wade

Kevin the Hound · Post by **Kevin the Hound** » Tue Apr 23, 2002 7:23 am

...Sigh!....

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Pars Acuta in Alio (The Pointy End Goes into the Other Man)

Talbot · Post by **Talbot** » Thu Apr 25, 2002 10:20 am

Wade, I think this is the barbute you and Valerius made. Isn't it?

http://www.crockerfarm.org/ac/rm02/Higgins/Images/59.jpg

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Doug Strong
Sir William Talbot, OL
(The artist formerly know as Talbot Mac Taggart)

http://talbotsfineaccessories.com

Friedrich · Post by **Friedrich** » Thu Apr 25, 2002 10:30 am

The pictures are reproduction pieces. However, occassionally the Higgins staff offers offsite talks and kid programs where they do take historical pieces with them for people to handle. It is standard procedure that cotton gloves are used to handle all the pieces both privately and in presentations. Very little is behind glass at Higgins actually. There are many partial and single pieces downstairs in the secured storage areas of armour, swords and other oddities. Even a few forgeries that snuck into the collections and have been kept as reference material.