Page:A record of European armour and arms through seven centuries (Volume 4).djvu/47

 We will briefly review those pieces of the Greenwich school that are at present known to us—taking them in the order of the list.

The gauntlets from the armour of Thomas Ratcliffe, Earl of Sussex, K.G., 1525-83, now in the Riggs Collection, Metropolitan Museum of New York (Fig. 1100). They once possessed finger plates; but these are now missing. In the centre of the cuff of the left gauntlet is a circular hole with the thread of a screw, to which was fastened the large bridle gauntlet or mainfere. Fine etching and gilding decorate these gauntlets in accordance with the design in the MS. The illustration (Fig. 1101) is the reproduction of figure 4 in the MS., "The Earle of Sussex."

The armour of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, K.G. (1534-88), in the Tower of London (Fig. 1102). This does not exactly correspond with the illustration in the MS., the engraving of the "ragged staff" being differently disposed about the surface; but most certainly this armour was made for the Earl of Leicester, as is evidenced by the Ragged Staff of the Beauchamps, placed saltire-fashion and charged with the crescent of cadency. In the drawing in the Jacobe MS. (Fig. 1103) the Muzzled Bear appears on the elbow-cops and on the chanfron; in the Tower suit it occurs frequently, as does also the George of the Order of the Garter. The absence of the latter from the suit drawn in the MS. is as peculiar as is the presence of the engraving on the Tower suit of the collar and badge of the Order of St. Michael, which limits the execution of the suit to the period 1566-88, and is evidence of the high favour in which the wearer was held by the jealous Queen. In place of the mail sollerets with toe-caps only of plate, which are seen in the drawing, the Tower armour shows complete plate sollerets. The body armour is quite complete; the horse armour extant comprises the chanfron and the saddle steels. The extra pieces consist of the grand-*guard, the reinforcing elbow-guard, and the bridle gauntlets.

No. 8 in the Jacobe MS.