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ADVANCED ARMOUR STUDY MATERIALS
The study of armour is very rewarding. There are many different coffee
table books on the subject and they are all desirable to the scholastic
inquirer. Many of their high resolution photographs can be significantly
enlarged in a computer to reveal much interesting information. However
for the serious student of armour there is one major source of information,
above all other study material short of actual armours. That being the
detailed catalogs of the many armour collections and exhibitions. These
precious documents frequently contain information about restoration and
finish that literally cannot be found in any other source. Here is a list
of those that we at Blankenshield have relied on for source information
and may be currently available on the collectors market.
The John Woodman Higgens Armory
Without a question this wonderful book is the “first pick” of
any student of armour. It goes into more detail about the many restorations
and compositions in their extensive collection than any other museum.
Detailed information on the armour restorer Daniel Tachaux. (More about
him later!) Absolutely outstanding.
The Old Arsenal at Solothurn
This book is printed in three languages on each page. It contains information
valuable information on their Biedermeier tableaux and what was done by
Martin Distili in 1840 to the sixteenth armour to turn it into statuary
for a display of a fifteenth century event. And the fact that other armours
in their collection have been restored from other Beidermeir tableaux’s.
As they state in their catalog this information is unique in all collections.
My copy is such a valuable tool that I have separated the pages and made
many many high resolution scans.
Imperial Austria
The Graz armoury. Without a question this collection is the most complete
armoury extent. Right down to musket scrubbers. This is the largest collection
of armour with the original finishes on earth and if you want to study
armour finished this is where to go.
Now I am going to offer the titles of some foreign language catalogs that
we have used over and over again in creating our designs.
.Leib. .RVEST.CAMER.I.
At least that is what the cover says. Inside it says KATALOG DER LEIBRUSTKAMMER.
In this recent catalog there is a lot of saddle information. Pictures.
Construction details. History. Who would have known that many saddles
in the fifteenth century were made from birch bark soaked in hot glue
or that Maximillian invented snaps. My translator told me though that
this one is in Austrian not German.
Innsbrucker Platnerkunst
This one has restoration information and many many armours you never ever
see in coffee table books.
Armi Antiche
This Italian collection seems to be entirely based on military equipment
of all ages with the original patinas on it. As a result this collection
is full of very ragged armour.
Of course any one interested in armour should have THE
ARMOURER AND HIS CRAFT by Ffoulks.
Any one interested in the history of the martial horse and the armour
used on it absolutely must have this book that was personally recommended
to me by DR Kugler of the Waggonburg museum in Vienna. In it is almost
every piece of martial equestrian art known.
The Royal Horse and Rider by Walter Liedtke.
I close here with be all end all of armour book collectors. A book that
if you ever do find it you will be exceedingly lucky if you can buy it
at any price, add up the zero’s. This book was written in the early
twentieth century by a disgruntled collector who discovered that his large
armour collection was a total fraud and that unscrupulous dealers had
robbed him and an entire museum industry. Only a few dozen copies ever
existed. This hot volume is the absolute inside on restorers and their
trade but the information in it puts millions and millions of dollars
worth of collections in question to this very day and raises questions
that the museum industry may very well want to avoid for the next hundred
years till they can properly test their collections. This book explains
why the huge William Randolph Hearst collection languishes waiting for
some one able to identify the restorations in it. The only copy I have
ever seen was so precious that the owner would not let me within two feet
and he turned the pages as I read the sections he found important to share
with me. This book is titled
MY TACHAUX.
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