In battle formation, pikemen stood together in tight ranks and used their pikes to defend unarmored musketeers. The latter were deployed on the flanks of the pikemen and retreated behind them to reload after firing a volley. The pike is a steel-tipped spear up to eighteen feet long with which the pikemen fended off attacking cavalry. This tandem use of “shot and pike” was the fundamental principle governing infantry tactics for much of the seventeenth century.
The quality of this armor and its decoration suggest that it was worn by an officer and that it may be a late product of the royal armor workshops at Greenwich, which closed in 1637 after 120 years of activity.
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Helmet, proper left
Artwork Details
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Title:Pikeman’s Armor
Date:ca. 1620–30
Geography:probably Greenwich or London
Culture:British, probably Greenwich or London
Medium:Steel, brass
Dimensions:Helmet (a): H. 12 in. (30.5 cm); W. 9 in. (22.9 cm); cuirass and tassets (c–f): H. 27 in. (68.6 cm); W. 21 in. (53.3 cm); Wt. 19 lb. (8618 g)
Classification:Armor for Man
Credit Line:Rogers Fund, 1919
Object Number:19.129a–f
[Samuel James Whawell, until 1919; sold to MMA].
Hagerstown, Md. Washington County Museum of Fine Arts. "Loan Exhibition of Medieval and Renaissance Arms and Armor from the Metropolitan Museum of Art," February 27–March 31, 1955, no. 6.
Newark. Newark Museum Association. "Loan Exhibition of Medieval and Renaissance Arms and Armor from the Metropolitan Museum of Art," May 15–September 15, 1955, no. 6.
Seattle, Wash. Seattle Art Museum. "The Art of Chivalry: European Arms and Armor from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," March 11, 1982–June 6, 1982, no. 29.
Denver, Colo. Denver Art Museum. "The Art of Chivalry: European Arms and Armor from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," July 18–October 10, 1982, no. 29.
San Antonio, Tex. Witte Museum of the San Antonio Museum Association. "The Art of Chivalry: European Arms and Armor from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," November 13, 1982–February 5, 1983, no. 29.
Minneapolis, Minn. Minneapolis Institute of Arts. "The Art of Chivalry: European Arms and Armor from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," May 24–July 31, 1983, no. 29.
San Francisco. Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. "The Art of Chivalry: European Arms and Armor from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," November 5, 1983–January 28, 1984, no. 29.
Detroit, Mich. Detroit Institute of Arts. "The Art of Chivalry: European Arms and Armor from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," April 4–June 17, 1984, no. 29.
Laking, Guy Francis, Charles Alexander Cosson, and Francis Henry Cripps-Day. A Record of European Armour and Arms Through Seven Centuries. Vol. V. London: G. Bell and Sons, 1922. p. 50, fig. 1457A.
Grancsay, Stephen V., The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Washington County Museum of Fine Arts. Loan Exhibition of Medieval and Renaissance Arms and Armor from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Hagerstown, Md.: Washington County Museum of Fine Arts, February 27–March 31, 1955. pp. 4–5, no. 6, ill.
Nickel, Helmut. "English Armour in the Metropolitan Museum." The Connisseur (November 1969), pp. 196–203, fig. 15.
Nickel, Helmut. Warriors and Worthies: Arms and Armor Through the Ages. New York: Atheneum, 1969. p. 88, ill.
Nickel, Helmut. Ullstein-Waffenbuch: eine kulturhistorische Waffenkunde mit Markenverzeichnis. Berlin: Ullstein, 1974. p. 125, ill.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Helmut Nickel, Stuart W. Pyhrr, Leonid Tarassuk, and American Federation of Arts. The Art of Chivalry: European Arms and Armor from the Metropolitan Museum of Art: An Exhibition. New York: The Federation, 1982. pp. 72–74, no. 29, ill.
Pyhrr, Stuart W. "S. J. Whawell and the Art Market." The Eleventh Park Lane Arms Fair: Sunday 6th February 1994: the Marriott Hotel, Grosvenor Square, London W1: 10.30 AM–6.00 PM p. 23.
La Rocca, Donald J. How to Read European Armor. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2017. pp. 22–3, 148–9, figs. 23, 164.
Made under the direction of Jacob Halder (British, master armorer at the royal workshops at Greenwich, documented in England 1558–1608)
ca. 1587, restored and completed 1915
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