The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of October 5, 2024

"Waistcoat" Cuirass (Combined Breast and Backplates)

"Waistcoat" Cuirass (Combined Breast and Backplates)

c. 1580
Steel; brass rivets simulating buttons
Overall: 47.6 x 29.6 x 25.7 cm (18 3/4 x 11 5/8 x 10 1/8 in.)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance 1916.1721
Location: 210A Armor Court

Did You Know?

While it would provide some protection to the torso, the armor here is very light; fashion not function was the prerequisite.

Description

This cuirass is a specialized type of costume armor. In addition to protecting its owner's torso, it was clearly intended to simulate a civilian jacket, or doublet, with a row of buttons down the front. The owner would have opened it like an ordinary doublet since the two halves are hinged to a narrow backplate.
  • ?-1916
    Frank Gair Macomber (1849-1941), Boston, MA, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1916-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Catalogue of Arms and Armour. [Boston, Massachusetts]: [Frank Gair Macomber], 1900. Cat. no. 397 archive.org
    Gilchrist, Helen Ives. A Catalogue of the Collection of Arms & Armor Presented to the Cleveland Museum of Art by Mr. and Mrs. John Long Severance; 1916-1923. Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1924. Mentioned: p. 65, C12; Reproduced: Plate XIII, C12 archive.org
    Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms and Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: The Museum, 1998. pp. 92, 164; cat. no. 33
    Smith, Robert Douglas. Heavy Metal: Europese Harnassen in Het Vizier = Focus on European Armour. Delft: Legermuseum, 2004. p. 42, fig. 2
    Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms & Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007. cat. no. 30, p. 183-184
  • Armor Court Reinstallation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer).
  • {{cite web|title="Waistcoat" Cuirass (Combined Breast and Backplates)|url=false|author=|year=c. 1580|access-date=05 October 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1916.1721