Page:A record of European armour and arms through seven centuries (Volume 3).djvu/269

 We ascribe the next Tower suit, Class II, No. 7 (Fig. 1020), to the ownership of King Henry VIII simply by reason of its proportions and period; for it is not assigned to that monarch in any of the inventories of that time. It must be later in date than the one we have just dealt with; for if it is actually the King's harness it shows him grown stouter. In the 1547 inventory it is described as being "In the bigger of the litle Houses" at "Grenewich."

"Itm one Tunlett pcell guilte w^t a Basenett complete Lackinge one gauntlett." In the inventory of 1561 we fail to identify it, unless the entry "Footmans Harnesse guilt one" refers to it. In the 1611 inventory we find it again in "the greene gallery Greenwich": "One olde fashioned armo^r called a Trundlett parcell guilte and graven."

In the 1629 inventory of "the greene gallery Greenwich," we again come across it—but on a mounted figure; though how a suit with such a skirt was placed upon a horse we are at a loss to comprehend: "And upon one other horse one old-fashioned armo^r called a Trundlett parcell guilte and graven." In the subsequent inventories of 1660, 1676, 1688, 1691, and 1693 we fail to recognize it unless it is the "Foote armour of Henry viij^{th}, richly guilt consisting of backe, brest, and placket, Taces, gorget, a burgonet with a buffe or chin peece one" mentioned in the 1660 inventory of the Tower. But as that entry clearly assigns a burgonet with a buffe as the head-piece to the foot armour, and omits to mention the arm defences, we are very doubtful whether it is the one we are looking for. It will therefore be seen that in the only two passages in the inventories in which we are able to identify it, there is no mention of the armour as having belonged to King Henry VIII.

We are again quite in the dark as to who made the actual body armour, for it is without an armourer's mark; but it strangely resembles in its workmanship, more especially as regards the etched ornament, the horse armour shown in Fig. 1024. The slightly globose breastplate and its deep skirt or tonnlet of nine lames is ridged in the Maximilian fashion, and the etching on the alternate flutes of the breastplate and on the tonnlet is so arranged as to show a chequer pattern. The pauldrons are ample, and in their fashioning show a very distinct Italian influence. The complete arms are of somewhat small proportions and are quite in accordance with the period, laminated plates protecting the inner bend of the arm. The gauntlets, which are unfortunately missing, have been replaced by two massive mitten gauntlets, out of scale with the rest of the harness. The suit has now no leg defences, the skirt