Marking the Arms and Armor Centennial

Fig. 1. The central court of the purpose-built Arms and Armor Galleries, designed by McKim, Mead & White and installed in 1915.

«One hundred years ago, on October 28, 1912, the Trustees of The Metropolitan Museum of Art officially created the Department of Arms and Armor. From relatively modest beginnings, the department rapidly developed into one of the finest and most comprehensive collections of its type in the world.» To commemorate the department's centennial, the Museum has organized a number of activities, including the publication of a history of the department written by Stuart Pyhrr, Of Arms and Men: Arms and Armor at the Metropolitan, 1912–2012; a series of gallery talks, public lectures, and educational programs; the exhibition Bashford Dean and the Creation of the Arms and Armor Department (fig. 2), which examines the career of the founding curator of the department; and a series of changes in the department's permanent galleries to enhance and augment the displays.

Fig. 2. Entrance to the exhibition Bashford Dean and the Creation of the Arms and Armor Department, on view October 2, 2012, through September 30, 2013.

Of fundamental importance among these changes is a comprehensive upgrading of hundreds of light fixtures throughout the galleries, making the works on display dramatically more visible. Equally important is the creation of approximately one thousand entirely new object labels that are far more legible than previous versions and include new and expanded information about the pieces on display. To improve the presentation further, ten new display cases have been installed and about sixty additional objects have been put on display. These new cases feature several important recent acquisitions, some of which have never been shown before.

Four new wall cases have been added to the entrance gallery (Gallery 370). Two cases on the left side, flanking the entrance to Gallery 373, feature important early European swords: one from the Viking era and the other a classic knightly sword of about 1400. The double-edged blade of the Viking sword is inlaid in iron with the name of the swordsmith Ulfberht, who probably lived in the Middle Rhine region of Germany in the tenth century (fig. 3). His work was held in such high regard that his blade-making style and signature were copied by other craftsmen for generations. This sword is one of several pieces on loan to the Museum from Laird and Kathleen Landmann.

Fig. 3. Sword, ca. 850–900. Germanic or Scandinavian. Lent by Laird and Kathleen Landmann, 2006 (L.2006.57)

The adjacent sword has a pommel that is decorated with silver and a crossguard made of bronze and wrapped with silver wire, which suggest that this sword was intended for presentation or ceremonial use rather than as a fighting weapon (fig. 4). A Latin phrase inscribed on the pommel translates, "here, too, virtue has its due reward," a quote from Virgil's Aeneid (book 1, line 461). An inscription (now illegible) on its blade is important as a very early example of the use of etching for the decoration of a weapon.

Fig. 4. Sword, ca. 1400. Western European. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, The Collection of Giovanni P. Morosini, presented by his daughter Giulia, 1932 (32.75.225)

Opposite these are two cases on the right side, flanking the entrance to Gallery 378, which include a selection of Japanese masks (fig. 5) and Japanese arrowheads (fig. 6) respectively. Sculptural face masks, worn as armor, existed in ancient Greece, the Roman Empire, the Near East, and sporadically in other parts of Asia, going out of use by the fifteenth century. They remained in use in Japan, however, well into the nineteenth century, where they were appreciated as masterly demonstrations of artistic ironwork, as seen in the examples in the galleries. The new arrowheads supplement an existing display of ornate ceremonial Japanese arrowheads by showing more practical examples designed for war and hunting.

Fig. 5. The northeast corner of Gallery 370 showing the new installation of Japanese masks. Fig. 6. The southeast corner of Gallery 370 showing the new installation of Japanese arrowheads.

In the Bashford Dean Memorial Gallery (Gallery 373), which covers European arms and armor from the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, we've added several pieces to existing display cases. A selection of different types of stirrups now complements the previously existing group of spurs (fig. 7). Three beautifully painted fifteenth-century shields are now on display for the first time since being comprehensively restored (fig. 8). They come from a unique group of seven shields that were painted over and reused for funerary purposes in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Fig. 7. New installation of stirrups in Gallery 373. Fig. 8. One of three newly installed German Gothic shields in Gallery 373.

In the center of the gallery, there is now an extremely rare iron and gilt copper helmet dating from the sixth or seventh century (fig. 9), also a generous loan from Laird and Kathleen Landmann. It was necessary to temporarily remove the group of fifteenth-century crossbows usually on display in the corner of this gallery for conservation and photography. Although the crossbows are missed, we have used this opportunity to bring out a few beautifully decorated pieces of armor that are usually in storage, including parts of a cavalry armor and an embossed shield from Augsburg, and an etched close-helmet from Landshut, all pieces of very high quality and dating from the mid-sixteenth century (fig. 10).

Fig. 9. Helmet (Spangenhelm), 6th–7th century. Byzantine or Germanic. Lent by Laird and Kathleen Landmann (L.2010.48a). Fig. 10. Mid-sixteenth armor elements from Augsburg and Landshut installed in Gallery 373.

A new freestanding case has been added in the Russell B. Aitken Gallery of Firearms (Gallery 375) to accommodate two outstanding recent acquisitions: a flintlock sporting gun and a delicately decorated pair of Italian snaphaunce pistols made in about 1690. The sporting gun (fig. 11), probably designed for bird hunting, was made in Vienna for Empress Margarita Teresa (reigned 1666–73), Infanta of Spain and wife of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I (reigned 1658–1705). The crowned monogram of the empress is inlaid in silver on both sides of the gunstock, and her coat of arms is engraved on the silver escutcheon at the grip of the stock. The gun is a masterpiece by Jacques Lamarre, a Parisian gunmaker who worked for the imperial court in Vienna from about 1670. The snaphaunce pistols are among the best works of a renowned Italian gunmaker known as Acquafresca, who lived in Bargi, near Bologna (fig. 12). They have black ebony stocks decorated with inlaid silver wire and fitted with finely chiseled and brightly polished steel mounts.

Fig. 11. Jacques (or Jacob) Lamarre (French, recorded Paris 1657–died Vienna, Austria 1700). Flintlock Sporting Gun of Empress Margarita Teresa, ca. 1670–73. Austrian, Vienna. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Purchase, Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Gift, 2011 (2011.354). Fig. 12. Matteo Cecchi, called Acquafresca (Italian, Bargi, 1651–1738). Pair of Snaphaunce Pistols, ca. 1690. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Purchase, Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Gift, 2006 (2006.471.1–.2)

An early French or Netherlandish flintlock pistol of about 1650 (fig. 13) has been added to the case containing French firearms of the seventeenth century. This pistol is distinguished by the crisp and detailed ornament chiseled in high relief on its barrel, lock, and other steel mounts. It belonged to the famous Swedish general Carl Gustaf, Count Wrangel, whose armory survives to this day in Skokloster Castle, Sweden. An ornately carved ivory powder flask made in Germany in the about 1675 has been added to the display of firearms and accessories made from or decorated with ivory (fig. 14). This flask combines various ivory-working techniques, such as turning on a lathe and figural carving in low and high relief.

Fig. 13. Snaphaunce Pistol, Netherlandish or French, ca. 1650. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Purchase, Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Gift, 2011 (2011.360a, b). Fig. 14. Display in Gallery 375 of firearms and powder flasks made with carved ivory.

A recently added freestanding case in the Russell B. Aitken Gallery of Edged Weapons (Gallery 376) features what is perhaps the most beautifully designed European sword hilt of the nineteenth century (fig. 15). It was made by the French sculptor Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse in collaboration with the goldsmith Lucien Falize in about 1880. The grip is in the form of a sculpture in the round of the Virgin Mary, while the sword guard shows the Archangel Michael vanquishing Satan, represented in low relief. Acquired in 1989, the hilt is once again on display after having been on loan and then in storage for several years.

Fig. 15. Designed and modeled by Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse (French, Anizy-le-Château 1824–1887 Sèvres); executed by Lucien Falize (French, Paris, 1842–1897). Sword Hilt with the Virgin Mary, Saint Michael, and Satan, ca. 1882. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Purchase, Gift of William H. Riggs, by exchange, 1989 (1989.229)

The new centerpiece of the Robert M. Lee Gallery (Gallery 372) is a case devoted to three sumptuous American presentation swords. The practice of presenting specially designed swords to soldiers for acts of valor or distinguished service began in the American Revolution and continued through the War of 1812 (1812–15), Mexican War (1846–48), and Civil War (1861–65). The earliest sword of the three shown here was made by the New York goldsmith John Targee and awarded by the State of New York to Captain Samuel C. Reid, a naval hero of the War of 1812. The next sword was commissioned by the United States Congress and presented to Major General John E. Wool in 1854 for his pivotal role in the American victory at Buena Vista (February 1847) during the Mexican War (fig. 16). The massive gold hilt incorporates the American eagle as the pommel, an ear of corn for the grip, and a cactus branch entwined with snakes (for Mexico) as the cross-guard. Although the hilt of the third sword is made of gilt brass rather than gold, it is nevertheless very distinctive for its three dimensional figural grip and powerful design (fig. 17). This sword was given to Captain Richard French by the men of his New York militia company, known as the LaFayette Fusiliers, on June 21, 1850.

Fig. 16. Sameul Jackson (American, Baltimore, active 1833–70). Congressional presentation sword of Major General John E. Wool, 1854–55. United States, possibly Baltimore. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Purchase, Arthur Ochs Sulzberger and Mr. and Mrs. Robert Goelet Gifts, 2009 (2009.8a–c). Fig. 17. Ames Manufacturing Company (American, Chicopee, Massachusetts, 1829–1935). Sword of Captain Richard French, 1850. United States, Chicopee, Massachusetts. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Purchase, Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Gift, 2012 (2012.105a, b)

Two additional wall cases in Gallery 372, flanking the doorway to Gallery 376, contain six English silver-hilted smallswords showing the progression of styles from the late seventeenth to the late eighteenth century (fig. 18). Smallswords, often richly decorated, were an integral part of a gentleman's wardrobe from about 1650 until about 1800, when the wearing of swords in civilian settings went out of fashion and pistols replaced swords in personal duels. The majority of smallsword hilts are made of silver or steel, but many also employ a wide variety of luxurious materials, such as gold, porcelain, and enamel. English smallsword hilts, usually made of silver, were emulated, both in style and materials, by Colonial American silversmiths, whose work can be seen on the American hilts in the gallery.

Fig. 18. The west side of Gallery 372 showing the display of English and American smallswords.

Gallery 379, devoted to Islamic arms and armor, is now anchored by a Mughal mail shirt that is reinforced with gilt steel plates (fig. 19). This shirt ranks among the most beautiful surviving Mughal armors and is among the earliest dated examples. The plates are covered in two-color gold and incised with Qur’anic inscriptions in elegant calligraphy entwined with delicate foliage. An engraved inscription inside one of the plates identifies this armor as a gift from a high-ranking Mughal prince and military official at the court of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan (reigned 1627–58). Additional inscriptions inside the plates suggest that the armor belonged to the emperor himself.

Fig. 19. Shirt of Mail and Plate, India and Iran, plates dated A.H. 1042 (A.D. 1632–33). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Purchase, Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Gift, 2008 (2008.245)

The Museum's collection of Tibetan and Himalayan arms and armor is one of the most comprehensive in the world and has been the subject of two special exhibitions in the past: Tibetan Arms and Armor from the Permanent Collection (December 13, 2007–April 29, 2012); and Warriors of the Himalayas: Rediscovering the Arms and Armor of Tibet (April 5–July 4, 2006). Only now, however, as part of the 2012 renovations, it is possible to have a rotating selection of this material included in the permanent galleries. One large case in Gallery 378 (fig. 20) includes an equestrian figure representing a fully equipped Tibetan cavalryman of the eighteenth to nineteenth century; a highly ornate saddle made in eastern Tibet in the 1940s for a government official; a Mongolian helmet decorated with gold damascening; and two pairs of elaborately pierced ironwork stirrups.

Fig. 20. The new selection of Tibetan and Himalayan arms and armor in Gallery 378.

A handful of pieces have also been added to the existing cases in the Bloomberg Court (Gallery 371). One of these, donated to the Museum in 2008 by Bernice and Jerome Zwanger, is an Italian breastplate that belonged to Francesco Maria II della Rovere (1548–1631), duke of Urbino (fig. 21). It can be seen in a portrait of della Rovere painted soon after he took part in the defeat of the Turkish fleet at the battle of Lepanto in October 1571, a detail of which appear on the new gallery label.

Fig. 21. Breastplate, from an armor of Francesco Maria II della Rovere, Duke of Urbino, ca. 1570. Italian, Milan. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of Bernice and Jerome Zwanger, 2008 (2008.638.2)

The upgraded lighting and labels, new display cases, and additional objects constitute the most significant changes in the Arms and Armor Galleries since a comprehensive renovation in 1991. As the Department of Arms and Armor enters its second century, the activities marking its centennial in 2012 are a reflection of the high standards and traditions that have been carried on since the department was founded in 1912.