An Equestrian Full Armour For Man And Horse In Mid-Late 16th Century Style

The Breast- And Back-Plate Late 16th Century, The Remainder 19th Century

The former comprising a close-helmet with skull rising to a roped comb, beak-shaped visor with horizontal vision slits and pivoted at the same points as the upper- and lower-bevors, the former pierced on each side with a floret-shaped arrangement of breaths within a circle of small circular holes, the latter with turned and roped border designed to turn on the upper border of the two-plate gorget, breast-plate of rounded form with bold turn at the neck, riveted two-piece skirt carrying tassets each of four upward-lapping lames, the outer borders turned and roped and including an arch over the groin, back-plate with single-plate culet and turned and roped border, fully articulated vambraces comprising upper arms each of seven overlapping plates with a bracelet turning joint at their base, heart-shaped couters, lower cannons hinged together and secured by pin-catches, fingered gauntlets each with flared cuff with recessed turned and roped border, and hinged thumb-defence, and full length leg harness comprising single-plate cuisses, poleyns each with side-wing, between two articulated plates, the bottom plates pierced for attaching greaves, the latter each hinged together and with round-toed sabatons both of ten articulated plates, etched overall with bands and borders of symmetrical scrolling foliage inhabited by a crowned double-headed eagle on the breast-plate and pairs of grotesques elsewhere, all between borders of beading and ropework, the pauldrons each with an armed cherub astride a foliate demi-horse; the latter comprising a shaffron incorporating an earlier main-plate (some old holes and repairs), embossed with radiating fluting and with riveted boldly roped brass border around the nose, riveted ear-pieces and prominently arched bars forming a trellis over each eye, large cheek-defences hinged on leathers, and central tubular plume-holder, crinet of nine articulated plates, large crupper of plates riveted together and incorporating an embossed spirally twist tail-guard etched with bands of dots against a blackened ground, the riveted lower borders en suite, large peytral en suite and involving a roundel at the front centred on a star against a sun-in-splendour, saddle of padded partly quilted green velvet, the cantle with shaped plates at the rear, and large pommel-plate carrying two shaped side-plates at the front, the barding etched overall with scrolling foliage against a dotted blackened guard and all between plain bright borders: mounted on a black fibreglass model of a horse caparisoned in red velvet with gold brocade borders and tassels; together with a brass-mounted bit, green velvet reins, and a pair of arched steel stirrups etched en suite