The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of July 2, 2022

Hauberk

c. 1400–50

This object has related works. See Barbute (from the Venetian Garrison at Chalcis)

Germany (?), first half 15th Century

Steel and brass rings, riveted with modern buckles and straps

Overall: 76.2 cm (30 in.); Sleeves: 43.2 cm (17 in.)

Gift of John L. Severance 1923.1120

Location

210A Armor Court

Fun Fact

Mail was expensive to make and generally only available to warriors of noble birth unless it could be obtained as war booty.

Description

Mail armor was the predominant form of metal body defense for European knights until about 1350. The term derives from the Old French word maille (mesh), implying a protective textile. Each mail garment was constructed of small linked metal rings and "woven" for a specific part of the body. Mail for the torso is a hauberk and typically reached mid-thigh.

Provenance
?-1923
Bashford Dean, New York, NY
1923
(Sale American Art Association, New York, NY, November 23, 1923, lot 246)
1923-
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
American Art Association. Illustrated Catalogue of Ancient Arms and Armor, Stained Glass, Coffrets and Furniture, Authentic Specimens, in Nearly All Instances European. New York: American Art Association, 1923. lot 246
Gibson, Katharine. The Goldsmith of Florence; A Book of Great Craftsmen. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1929. p. 53
Gilchrist, Helen Ives. Handbook of the Severance Collection of Arms and Armor. Cleveland, Ohio: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1948. Reproduced: p. 21 archive.org
Cleveland Museum of Art. A Missal for a King. [Cleveland]: [The Museum], 1963. no. 107
Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms and Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: The Museum, 1998. pp. 35-41, 71-75, 166, no. 92
Louis, William Noel, and Daniel H. Weiss. The Book of Kings: Art, War and the Morgan Library's Medieval Picture Bible. Baltimore: Walters Art Museum, 2002. pp. 83-97
Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms & Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007. p. 186, cat. no. 83
Cleveland Museum of Art, and Holger A. Klein. Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007. p. 284-5, cat. 107
Eikelmann, Renate, Holger A. Klein, Stephen N. Fliegel, and Virginia Brilliant. The Cleveland Museum of Art: Meisterwerke von 300 bis 1550. München: Hirmer, 2007.
Exhibition history

Armor Court Reinstallation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer).

Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. National Museum of Bavaria, Munich, Germany (May 10-September 16, 2007); J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA (October 30, 2007-January 20, 2008); Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN (February 13-June 7, 2009).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1923.1120