Frontier cuirass c. 1720 believed Pueblo Indian in Spanish Style

[Ian]

Hi Rick.

Great to see that example of leather armor. I'm struggling to place it as Moro because all the Moro armor that I have seen has been plate and mail. Those plates have been made from a variety of materials, including various metals, carabao horn, and carabao leather. Your multilayered example, with thick over-lapping antique leather strips is unlike any Moro arrangement that I have seen. It does, however, have other Spanish/European elements and its materials fit with a Philippines origin (although both carabao and rattan are widespread in the Philippines, and indeed throughout SE Asia as a whole).

Provenance of this piece is key. Do you know where it came from? How firm is the Moro attribution, or a Philippines origin in general?

Regards, Ian.

[Jim McDougall]

The Philippine history and arms are not a field I have studied that much, but in research on the cuir boullli cuirass I began researching over ten years ago has been concluded to be of Spanish colonial provenance from Santa Fe. N.M. from c. late 17th c. It was apparently fashioned by Pueblo artisans under the direction of the governor of Santa Fe. The process of cuir boulli (boiled ox hide) was obsolete in Europe by this time, though leather armor of brigandine style was in use.

Why this is important is that the overall neo classic style, with tassets, and the decorative symbolism which is paralleled nominally in Rick's example, strongly suggests Spanish colonial influences from the Spanish southwest.

This situation is likely to have derived from the commerce of the so called Manila galleons which went between there and Acapulco, with alternate stops in San Blas in Baja. It is likely these type leather armors went aboard these vessels to the Philippines with soldiers etc.

That being the case, it seems entirely plausible that Rick's example, is a Filipino interpretation of those incorporated with other types of armor which remained in use over long periods in colonial regions. While it is of leather scales overlayed in cataphract (lamellar) style, the use of rattan is telling as it suggests likely Philippine production (the focal point of Spanish occupation in these regions).

The presence of this styling and decorative devices reflect the baroque styling typical of ecclesiastic art of early periods in the Spanish southwest. This emphasizes the likelihood of being produced in the Spanish Philippines rather than the Moro Sultanates.

While Moro arms and armor reflect a notable degree of Spanish influence, the styling and character of their armor is more aligned with Muslim styles of mail.

I hope this is somewhat helpful with this conundrum, which is typical of most Spanish colonial subjects regarding arms and armor. As noted, even after many years of research I still have reservations on some factors, and the mysteries of the Philippines(for me) in this history is daunting indeed.

[RSWORD]

Unfortunately, this is an item that came without any history or provenance. I agree with Jim that this is likely a product of the Spanish Philippines and not Moro. If that is the case, I think it would likely be fairly early and likely late 18th to early 19th century. Leather was readily available in the late 19th century in the Northern Philippines judging by the number of scabbards and scabbard mounts that feature that material and I see no reason it wasn't available a century or more earlier.

I know a number of our esteemed Filipino researchers have found early Spanish accounts in the Philippines and I wonder if any of those mention the locals copying their armor?

[Jim McDougall]

To support the notable presence of scaled (cataphract) armor in the Spanish southwest is best described in the paper written by Dr. Peter Bleed of the University of Nebraska in 'Plains Anthropologist' Vol.60, #235, Aug.2015, p.199-122...." Scale Armor on the North American Frontier".
This describes an element of scaled armor believed of Spanish origin and likely dating from 18th century, possibly earlier, and which is of the form covering chest and shoulders in the sense of a gorget, known as a 'Bishops mantle'.
This came into the possession of Capt. John Gregory Bourke in 1870 while stationed at Ft. Craig, New Mexico.

It was acquired from an army doctor who had described its being found in expeditions in regions between the Rio Grande and Pecos, with the apocryphal and likely romanticized note it was several other items deposited along with bones of presumably Spanish soldier. While that cliche' had become well known in the discovery of numerous relics presumed from early Spanish explorers, the character of this armor was empirically examined by the State Historical Society of Nebraska. It had ended up there through a chain of custody well recorded, and donated in 1960s.

These types of scaled armor, in these cases of iron rather than leather, appear to have been from Spanish colonial provenance but had occasionally remained in use by Native American tribes for generations. In fact with Comanches there are two recorded instances of this, both with Comanche chiefs, one in 1780s, the other with the chief known as 'Iron Shirt' who was finally brought down by a shot from a 'buffalo rifle' in 1858 in Texas.
In both cases, descriptions of the armor were noted as 'scaled'.

The question came up regarding whether this armor might have been either fraternal or theatrical, which was a quite feasible suggestion, and I recall discussing this with Dr. Bleed, and this suggestion was disproven. The metal used in this armor was proven to be of 'bloomery' production, as described later in the paper to have only been obtainable from European sources earlier than the 19th c.

Therefore this type of scaled armor was circulating in the Southwest in earlier times into the 18th century and likely earlier. It appears that these forms, as well as the distictive cuir boulli example of my earlier research were forms which must have crossed the Pacific on the Manila galleons into Spanish controlled regions of Philippines. There native artisans likely reproduced their versions of the Spanish armor, and it is compelling to observe the combining of the scaled metal now in leather scales and the elements of the Santa Fe style cuir boulli decoration and tassets added as well.

Meanwhile the Moro armors of Mindanao and the sphere of the Sultanate used the Islamic armor models, with the interesting adoption of the Spanish combed morions used as well. In the research I did in degree on the armor used by Moros, the use of mail prevailed, and interestingly, the ultimate protection of the warrior was not the goal, but to accommodate further durability in battle, not necessarily survival.

[Ian]

Originally Posted by Jim McDougall

... interestingly, the ultimate protection of the warrior was not the goal, but to accommodate further durability in battle, not necessarily survival.

Such was the Moro way.

[TVV]

Here are a couple of examples from the Spanish Military Museum in Toledo.

[Jim McDougall]

The coat at top is a cuera, late 18th into 19th, layered rawhide.
The shields are adarga.

Not sure about the scaled armor below but reminds me of I think something Ive seen that was Rajput from India. Does not seem Spanish or Filipino but cannot say for sure.