Book Reviews

The London Armourers of the 17th Century,
by Thom Richardson. Royal Armouries Monograph 7. Royal Armouries Publications, Leeds, in association with the Armourers and Brasiers’ Company, London, United Kingdom. ISBN 0 948092 55 6. 97 pp.; 7” x 9 9/16”; b&w photographs throughout; paperback. £10.95 plus s/h (at cost to those outside the UK). Order from Royal Armouries Retail Department, Armouries Drive, Leeds LS10 1LT, United Kingdom.

This publication is the latest in the Armouries’ series of monographs. It is a most welcome work, particularly as its general subject matter, armor of the 17th century, is an area of increasing interest among collectors. As the cover notes state, such workaday material has been generally little appreciated by scholars, as it does not generally represent the “armour of kings and captains.” Drawing upon the rich resources of the Armourers and Brasiers’ Company archives as well as the Royal Armouries own significant holdings of 17th century English armor, Mr. Richardson has prepared a handy reference guide permitting the identification of many makers’ marks together with short biographies of many of the manufacturers themselves. These are arranged alphabetically in order of the main character of the maker’s surname. Mr. Richardson also provides some stylistic dating features of English 17th century armor for pikemen and harquebusiers (light cavalry), often viewed as so stereotypical in construction as to be considered unchanged over the course of several decades. With two exceptions (a close helmet and a burgonet), the armors and elements catalogued are restricted to these two types. Of interest to the visitor to the Armouries’ display in Louisville, is the fact that several items in the book are on loan to the Frazier Museum, including the burgonet helmet identified as by Francis Rolenson (number iv.734), two armors for pikemen, and a harquebusier’s armor from the ex-Littlecote House group.

It must be acknowledged that the restrictions of a 100 page monograph make it impossible to list all known surviving products by London armorers. Thus, the author has limited his pool of artifacts to the Armouries’ collection and a small number of others generally in the United Kingdom. This means that important items in North American collections are not included in the survey. The limitations also restrict the inclusion of additional anecdotal information, such as the fact that Thomas Stephens also produced twenty blackened armors with open headpieces and close helmets in filling an order from the colonists of 17th century New England. One or two armorers (e.g., Edward Anlsey(?)) are noted as being listed in archival information from the 1620s as having made “Almain corselets.” This term is associated with a form of light infantry armor from the sixteenth century, so it would have been quite interesting to know if it is possible to suggest what comprised such armors in 17th century England, when infantry’s iron protection was generally limited to pikemen’s half armors. Proofing of the typescript was quite good, but the Museum of the City of New York is referred to as “New York City Museum,” and the armors listed as from that collection in fact carry accession numbers in the range of the von Kienbusch bequest in the Philadelphia (USA) Museum of Art. Thus, at the time of their recording by Mr. Richardson, they were presumably on loan from that institution.