The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 21, 2025

Left Arm Elements from a Boy's Armor (Lower Cannon, Couter, Rerebrace)

c. 1560 (some modern)

Germany, Augsburg, mostly 17th Century

(some modern)
etched and lightly embossed steel with traces of gilding, leather
Overall: 17 cm (6 11/16 in.)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance 1916.708
Location: 210A Armor Court

Did You Know?

Small-scale suits of armor would help prepare a young boy for knighthood.

Description

These elements once belonged to a full suit of armor that would have been made for a young boy. Decorated with etching, embossing, and gilding, the original suit would have been impressive. Dressing your sons in small custom suits of armor was popular with the wealthiest nobles. They would have been worn for parades and ceremonial occasions and once outgrown were often kept as mementos. Made for the left arm, the rerebrace or upper cannon protected the upper arm, the couter the elbow, and the lower cannon the forearm.
  • -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 #: 418
    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. 70, C29 archive.org
    Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms and Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: The Museum, 1998. cat no. 10, p. 162
    Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms & Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007. cat. no. 31, p. 184
  • Cleveland Museum of Art Children's Armor. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 1, 2025-June 4, 2028).
  • {{cite web|title=Left Arm Elements from a Boy's Armor (Lower Cannon, Couter, Rerebrace)|url=false|author=|year=c. 1560 (some modern)|access-date=21 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1916.708