Fig. 17. A gauntlet of solid steel which is almost as flexible as chamois skin.
Parade armor was the lightest yet the most elaborate of all. Not intended for actual combat in either war or sport, it did not require the fundamental functionality of the other types; the armorers were free to follow their fancy and make the decoration as elaborate as they pleased. All methods were used. Etching and gilding were extensive and in addition the metal was embossed or chased in the most fanciful forms. In addition to the flat mercury gilding, gold was applied by the damascene process, either the “true” damascene in which plates or wires of gold (or silver) were actually inlaid into undercut grooves in the steel much as a dentist would fill a tooth, or the “false” damascene in which the precious metal was applied in the form of foil and rubbed onto the steel surface which had previously been roughened by tool work to produce innumerable tiny sharp points which could be burnished down to hold the foil firmly in place.
Fig. 18. A painted shield for a pageant or fancy-dress parade. Hungarian, XV century.
Specimens of the simpler parade armor, with etched and gilded ornament against a background colored a warm brown, are the shield shown in [Fig. 15] and the helmet of [Fig. 16]. A mitten-gauntlet of the second half of the sixteenth century from the Clarence Mackay collection and formerly from the Imperial Russian Collection in the Hermitage Museum of St. Petersburg ([Fig. 17]) is an example of the work of the British Royal Armory at Greenwich, which made numerous finely decorated suits of armor for the nobles of the court of Queen Elizabeth. This gauntlet is a magnificent specimen of engineering skill as applied to the design of armor; its construction allows complete freedom to the wrist, knuckle, and finger joints, yet keeps the hand perfectly protected in any position. The gauntlet is decorated with an etched design of rising eagles in interlaced medallions against a dotted background; the latter is partly black, partly gilded.
An entirely different type of parade armor is the shield of [Fig. 18]. It is made of wood, covered on the inside with leather, on the outside with canvas painted with a small coat of arms and a large representation of two unarmored men in mortal combat. This shield also was formerly in the Clarence H. Mackay collection.
Fig. 19. These stirrups are made of carved bronze, completely gilded.
Another example of parade equipment in a different medium is a pair of stirrups ([Fig. 19]) made of bronze and elaborately carved and gilded. They were formerly in the Spitzer collection.