Page:A record of European armour and arms through seven centuries (Volume 4).djvu/63

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of ornamentation is repeated on the backplate, to which is attached a small escalloped garde-de-rein. The pauldrons are intact, and have each upright shoulder guards attached by a hook and catch. The arms are complete with turners, rere- and vambraces, elbow-cops, and fingered gauntlets. The right elbow-cop has a strong staple for the attachment of an extra reinforcing piece. The tace is composed of one plate, to which are permanently attached the large tassets of eight plates, which, however, could be shortened at the third plate by spring catches, the lower border being finished by escalloping. These were complete without the five lower plates, and were thus worn when the knight was mounted, as shown on the dummy now set up in the Guard Chamber of Windsor Castle. The legs are small in comparison with the rest of the suit, the cuisses being short and composed of three plates, knee-cops, jambs with laminated ankles, and square-toed sollerets. The helmet has a slightly roped comb which opens down the centre of the chin-piece; the visor and mezeil are in two plates with triple ocularia; the longitudinal piercings for breathing purposes are in the mezeil. The helmet is hollowed at the neck in a rope design which should fit the top plate of the gorget and give free rotatory movement to the head. The present gorget is merely associated with this suit. The extra arming pieces shown in our illustration and belonging to the suit consist of the reinforcing breastplate which, laminated at the bottom and decorated in similar fashion to the breastplate on the suit, contains on the right-hand side an oblong piercing, through which the staples for the lance-rest could pass (Fig. 1114a), the reinforcing chin-piece secured by hinges to staples which are now on the helmet (Fig. 1114b), the extra volant piece for the mezeil which is unprovided with piercings for sight or for ventilation of any description (Fig. 1114c); the bow and cantle steels of the saddle, and the chanfron (Fig. 1114d), are also happily preserved.

Fig. 1115. "Sir Christofer Hattone" (first suit)

No. 16 in the Jacobe MS.

The armour of Henry Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, K.G. (1534-1601)