Fig. 392.—Pageant helmet with the crest of Burgau.
Fig. 393.—Pageant helmet with the crest of Austria (ancient) or Tyrol.
Fig. 394.—Pageant helm, second half of the 15th century (Sigmaringen).
The latter half of the Maximilian Period, or broadly speaking from about 1545 to 1600, saw a change in armour which renders it distinct from the preceding half. The rich flutings were discarded by reason of their tendency to hold the opponent’s lance and to direct its head towards vulnerable spots. As a substitute for the ornamental fluting the plain surface of the steel became covered with rich artistic designs, some of them being of exquisite beauty and marvellous workmanship, while occasionally repoussé work was added to heighten the effect. Aqua fortis was freely used for etching in combination with hand engraving, while damascening in gold and silver was also resorted to, the resulting suit presenting the absolute perfection of ornamentation of that particular character. But it is only in the surface decoration that we can admire the armour of the period, for in other respects it falls far short of that which preceded it. The outline was in most cases grotesque, or bordering upon it; the metal was thinner and lighter than before, while the devices for permitting it to cover the bombasted breeches, so fashionable at the period, effectually mars its beauty of outline. So similar in contour and general configuration of the several parts is the armour of this time (which may be termed the Decorative Period) that a description of one suit is to all intents and purposes a description of the whole, and the suits severally preserved at the Armourers’ Hall and the Wallace Collection will answer the purpose. These were made by the celebrated English armourer, Jacobi, whose illustrated album of twenty-nine suits, made by him between 1560 and 1590, is now in the South Kensington Museum. The album was sold at the Spitzer sale to M. Stein and was acquired by the nation; it is of extreme value to the student of armour, and a reproduction of the work has been issued. The suits were made for the Duke of Norfolk, the Earls of Rutland, Bedford, Leicester, Sussex, Worcester, Pembroke, and Cumberland, Sir Henry Lee, Master of the Armoury, Sir Christopher Hatton, &c., and a number have been preserved and identified by the details in the album. The suit in the Armourers’ Hall is one of the three made for Sir Henry Lee, while that in the Wallace Collection was made for Sir Thomas Sackville, created Baron of Buckhurst in 1567, and subsequently Earl of Dorset. This suit came from the Château Coulommiers en Brie, and was taken thence when the château was dismantled during the first French Revolution ([Fig. 395]).