Fig. 31.—Armour of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, 1566-1588. In the Tower.
The ornament is sufficiently distinct to admit of the suits being identified where they still exist. Thus the Earl of Pembroke’s suit is still at Wilton, in perfect preservation; the suit of George, Earl of Cumberland, is in the possession of Lord Hothfield at Appleby Castle. The grand-guard of this suit, with volant attached, forms the subject of [Plate IV.], in which the original russet and gilding is somewhat restored. The ornament on the bands is an interlacing strap upon a foliated arabesque ground, with a figure of Mercury near the top, and two E’s at intervals addorsed and crowned, coupled by a true-lover’s knot. Between are large roses and fleurs-de-lis united by knots. The helmet of Sir Henry Lee’s second suit, [Plate II.], is now in the Tower, having been identified by Lord Dillon, while a locking gauntlet belonging to it is in the Hall of the Armourers’ Company. This gauntlet, called the “forbidden gauntlet,” was in form of a closed right hand, the fingers fastened by a hook and staple, leaving an aperture for the passage of the weapon which, if a lance, or sword with cross-guard and pommel, could not be dislodged. In the Tower are also the vamplate of Sir Christopher Hatton’s second suit, and the complete armour of the Earl of Worcester, with both the headpieces. A helmet of Lord Sussex’s suit is in the Tower, and two gauntlets belonging to it were in the Spitzer sale. Lord Bucarte’s suit is in the Wallace collection at Hertford House, and another fine suit is in Armourers’ Hall.
The first Sir Christopher Hatton suit, [Plate III.], has also recently reached this country, fortunately in almost perfect condition. It was disposed of in the Spitzer sale, and was purchased by Mr. Davies of New Bond Street. It will be a misfortune if this historic piece is not added to the national collection. [Fig. 30] represents the upper part of this suit, taken from a photograph, with the high neck-guards attached to the pauldrons. The original front-plate seems to be lost, but the extra breastplate for tilting and some other extra pieces are preserved.
If Boheim is correct in his identification of Jacobe with Jacob Topf, and in his dates, the armour in the Album must be by different hands. Thus Topf, arriving in 1562, could hardly have made the first two suits marked M.R., the owners of which died, as we have mentioned, in 1563 and 1564 respectively. The mail defence for the instep and the relatively broad toes are features of an earlier time, which the letters M.R. identify as that of Mary, and show that the very broad stirrup of Henry VIII. was still in use. Neither could he, being settled in Innsbrück or at Ambras in 1575, have made the suits for Sir Henry Lee, as Master of the Armoury; nor that for Sir Thomas Bromley, as Lord Chancellor, though the latter suit may have been for Sir Nicholas Bacon, the previous Lord Chancellor. The chief difficulty is the date of Sir Henry Lee’s appointment, which Lord Dillon in his able treatise, in the Archæological Journal for June 1895, gives as 1580, and the fact that the solitary mention of Jacobe in any document is by Sir Henry Lee himself, and is dated October 1590, in which he speaks of him as “the Mr workman of Grenewhyche,” and in a way that could not well have reference to one who had quitted the post fifteen years before. These difficulties may, however, it is possible, yet be reconciled.
Fig. 32.—A superb suit of French armour in perfect preservation. Early seventeenth century. In the Guard-chamber of Windsor Castle.
Among the fine suits in the Tower is the equestrian armour of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester ([Fig. 31]), not however one of the suits in the Album. It is, like the Jacobe suits, banded in the Italian fashion, with a similar kind of design upon the bands, and between them a broad impressed diaper of crossed ragged staves and leaves filled with fine arabesques. Among the enrichments can also be seen the George of the Garter, the bear and ragged staff, the initials R.D., and the collar of the Order of St. Michael and St. George, conferred upon this favourite of Queen Elizabeth in 1566. In the illustration of this suit, [Fig. 31], the bear and ragged staff is plainly visible on the horse’s chamfron, from which issues a twisted spike. The armet is combed, but differs in form from the Jacobe type, and the visor is pierced on one side with round holes. In other respects the fashion of the armour is very similar to that of his enemy, Sir Christopher Hatton. The grand-guard and pass-guard or elbow-guard are preserved with it. The former is illustrated, [Plate V.], with its original gilding restored, the military cleaning and scouring to which it has been subjected for so many years, not wisely but too well, having obliterated every trace of the original splendour of colour. A portrait of the Earl in this very suit exists, however, to show what it was. He died, it is well known, in 1588.