Page:A record of European armour and arms through seven centuries (Volume 4).djvu/11



CHAPTER XXIX

ENGLISH ARMOUR OF WHAT WE NOW TERM THE GREENWICH SCHOOL—ARMOUR MADE FOR ENGLAND

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A series of suits made for noted Englishmen in the latter part of the XVIth century are believed to be of English work, but the names of the armourers who produced them are unknown—The master-armourer Jacobe—The famous album of drawings, now preserved in the Victoria and Albert Museum—The endeavour of certain experts to connect the work of Jacobe with that of the German armourer of Innsbrück, Jacob Topf—The absence of proof of this identification—The author's opinion that all these suits must be classed under the heading of the Greenwich school—The possible reason for the making of the Jacobe album—The complete list of the plates in the album, together with the suits or parts of suits that we are now able to identify—The suits or parts of suits reviewed and illustrated in detail, and as far as possible their histories given—Two suits in the Imperial Armoury of Vienna considered to be the work of Jacob Topf, their dissimilarity in make and decoration to all those we now class under the heading of the Greenwich school     1

CHAPTER XXX

A short chapter on that decadent type of continental armour classed under the general heading of "Pisan," so called from the town in Northern Italy chiefly responsible for its large output—The smart but cheap "reach-me-down" armour used throughout the continent in the last quarter of the XVIth century—The make of this particular type of armour varying in quality according to the workshops where it was produced—The master of this particular school, Pompeo della Cesa—Certain suits and half suits that may come from his hand—The richness of the colour effect of the decoration—"Mops and Brooms" engraving—A suit in the Armoury at Malta     77

CHAPTER XXXI

The close helmet of the XVIth century, its various types, the descendant of the fighting helmet of the grand epoch of the XVth century; the XVIth century close helmet historically considered—The plain Maximilian, the fluted Maximilian, the grotesque