A cuirasse breastplate ... for review

[Victrix]

Originally Posted by Jim McDougall

Now THIS is a valuable and most pertinent reference!!! Thank you so much Victrix, very, very much appreciated.

Not at all Jim. We all thank you, for sharing with us your wisdom and encyclopedic knowledge in these matters which you acquired through decades of research. This is very valuable to us indeed.

Separately on a different matter, in our inquiry it’s important for us to keep an open mind regarding ALL eventualities. It’s preposterous to think that “small” people would not have worn armour in the old days just because they are small. Curiously it seems that human diversity was much more accepted in the old days (pre 20thC?) and indeed even appreciated and celebrated.

[fernando]

Goo points Victrix, those written by Dirk Breiding; and my i say that his words converge here and there with what has been assumed here.
Also indisputable the existence of armour for teenager nobility, as well as a more rare, but still patent, number of oddities for giants and dwarfs.
I would then add that, besides stature dimensions, also resistance must have been part of the smith's different recipes, as a "compassion" for users who only had them for exhibition, parades, ceremonies and such non combat purposes; hence building the parts with a less sturdy consistence (read weight). A piece of armour for a short soldier would certainly weigh more than a "show off" specimen for a an individual of similar size who doesn't have to engage into battle.
The breastplate in discussion has a laminated construction and almost 4 m/m in its thinner parts.

[fernando]

An oil paint depicting Charles II of Great Britain, attributed to Van Dyck's school. The little prince in full armour, with a wheel lock pistol in his hand.
He later married Dona Catarina de Bragança of Portugal, the one who introduced to the Brits the habit of drinking tea.
(Collection Rainer Daehnhardt).

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[Jim McDougall]

Thank you Victrix, for your very kind words, but my entries here are simply my efforts to learn along with everyone here, and results of details of research I have completed.
You have brought up most salient points which very much should be the mantra of us all in research...…..ALWAYS keep an open mind, and toward all eventualities as further research and discussion unfolds.

In examining this curiously small breast plate, I have occasionally recalled the situation of some years ago (1996) when a French collector believed he had found the harness of Joan of Arc. It seems the armor was quite small, and he believed that certain damages in the metal had corresponded to wounds she was recorded as having received in battle.
While this armor was I believe largely dismissed by most experts as having been hers, it was duly noted that perhaps it was armor for a youngster because of its size (attached photo ). Though Joan was believed about 5 feet to a few inches more in height, she was believed to have been stockier than the slightly built stature of the person this armor was for.
It is also noted it is 'Gothic' and not of the type she is said to have worn, despite being metallurgically determined it is of 15th c.

Surely armor must have been made in varying gauge of metal as well as bolstered and augmented for key battle expectations, and it seems there are differences in 'parade' or accouterment armor in those respects.
Though notions of armor being so heavy that knights had to be hoisted onto horses etc. are of course nonsense (as has been often recounted) , it makes sense that lighter and less bolstered sets probably existed to suit occasions other than battle.

Despite the images of artwork where artists license often depicted what armor and weaponry might have been used by the figures portrayed, or the same conditions with modern film makers, there was not any real sort of regulation or standardized forms of these in these times and events.
It was mostly a circumstance of means, availability and opportunity as far as what was actually used.

Returning to the breast plate here, in looking more at the sizes (after trying to realize actual measurements in inches rather than cm) it does not seem to be unfeasibly small for actual wear as intended in my view. While the options for conventional methods of attachment seem absent, there are certain indications of possible other means of doing so as has been noted.
Elements of 'harness' were often assembled in varying degree it would seem, in keeping with the circumstantial cases of actual use I have suggested.

Whatever the case here, it seems that this breast plate may well have been viably worn, and may be included in that category of curiosities and anomalies which make these studies so fascinating.

[fernando]

An Infant's armor, attributed to Portuguese King Dom Sebastião (1557-1578) when he was ten years old.


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