Page:A record of European armour and arms through seven centuries (Volume 5).djvu/34

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Town Hall of Draguignan, in the department of Var, France (Fig. 1427), the other now to be seen in the Astor Collection, Hever Castle (Fig. 1428). These two suits, we believe, came from the same workshop as that which produced the suit of Henry, Prince of Wales, just discussed, but whose workshop it was we cannot say. The foundation and construction of the various parts of the Prince Henry suit, and the methods of enrichment followed in the etching, blueing, and gilding are almost similar to those seen on both the Astor and the Draguignan suits; but we have to admit that the Prince Henry suit is the clumsiest in finish. The Draguignan suit introduces in blued bands a most elaborate monogram surrounded by foliage Clovis Eve-*like in style; while the principal motif in the decoration of the Astor suit consists of the badge of some family, intertwined serpents, curious butterflies, and a treatment of foliage similar to that seen on the last suit. Either suit could be dated as early as about 1610, though both might well be as late as 1625.

Another important little half suit of armour at Windsor Castle, No. 574 in the 1904 Catalogue (Fig. 1429), is one which has come down to us with no history, but which, from the richness of its construction, from the fashion of its make, and from its extremely small proportions, we believe to have been the property of Henry, Prince of Wales, a theory we, however, only put forward tentatively until such time as we are able to recognize it in some contemporary portrait. It seems even smaller in proportions than the first Prince Henry suit which we have just described, and not of the size any boy above the age of ten or eleven could wear; but as we have proof of the smallness of that Prince's stature, even at the age of fourteen, we must not lay too much stress on this point. It is, however, certainly not French, and differs in make and fashion from the first suit we have described, and is a somewhat earlier type of armour, and possibly it may be as early as 1600. We have made previous reference to this half suit in vol. iii, page 300, where we discussed the possibility of its being the little harness which in the State Domestic Papers is referred to as having been sent by the Ambassador of the Duke of Savoy to Queen Anne of Denmark in 1613 as a present to her son, the Prince of Wales. As we have said, that suit, whichever it is, or was, was doubtless intended for Prince Henry; but as that Prince died in 1612, the Ambassador, with diplomatic tact, passed it on to Prince Charles, afterwards Charles I. If, however, this suit is one of the harnesses still in this country, there is better reason for identifying it with the armour with the lions at