Breastplate with Tassets

ca. 1500-10

Master HT or TH (armorer) German (active Landshut), c. 1500 - 1515

Not On View

Breastplate with Tassets: 1 of Collection Gallery

Breastplate with Tassets: 2 of Collection Gallery

Breastplate with Tassets: 3 of Collection Gallery

Breastplate with Tassets: 4 of Collection Gallery

Breastplate with Tassets: 5 of Collection Gallery

Image Only Image + Details All Images High Resolution TIFF Metadata

About the Artwork

Please note: This section is empty
Markings

Please note: This section is empty

This section contains information about signatures, inscriptions and/or markings an object may have.
Provenance

Please note: This section is empty

Provenance is a record of an object's ownership. We are continually researching and updating this information to show a more accurate record and to ensure that this object was ethically and legally obtained.

For more information on provenance and its important function in the museum, please visit:
Provenance page
Exhibition History

Please note: This section is empty

The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

We welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.
Suggest Feedback
Published References

Please note: This section is empty

We regularly update our object record as new research and findings emerge, and we welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.
Suggest Feedback
Catalogue Raisonné

Please note: This section is empty

A catalogue raisonné is an annotated listing of artworks created by an artist across different media.
Credit Line for Reproduction

Please note: This section is empty

The credit line includes information about the object, such as the artist, title, date, and medium. Also listed is its ownership, the manner in which it was acquired, and its accession number. This information must be cited alongside the object whenever it is shown or reproduced.
Audio Transcript

Please note: This section is empty

About the Artwork

This breastplate’s round silhouette, radiating flutes, and prominently defined neckline created by a ridge of inwardly folded metal are characteristic of the early Maximilian style, whose popularity coincided with Maximilian I's coronation as Holy Roman Emperor in 1508. The gussets along the armpits were affixed with sliding rivets to allow freedom of movement, and the tight waist distributed the armor’s weight onto the wearer’s hips instead of his shoulders, an ergonomic detail like that found on today’s hiking packs.
The marks of a crescent-shaped tool punctuate the top of each of the embossed flutes that enliven the armor’s surface, recalling the pleats of a fashionable garment. The breastplate now sports a hook-shaped lance rest like those used by horsemen to protect the shoulder while aiming a long lance. However, the fluted design’s symmetrical configuration and the presence of decorative flourishes like punched crescents underneath this rest suggest that it was added later, and that this breastplate was originally intended for use on foot, perhaps by a captain of infantry troops.

Title Breastplate with Tassets

Artwork Date ca. 1500-10

Artist Master HT or TH (armorer)

Life Dates c. 1500 - 1515

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. German

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. ----------

Medium Steel, leather

Dimensions Overall: 23 × 12 15/16 × 7 1/8 inches, 8.2 pounds (58.4 × 32.9 × 18.1 cm, 3.7 kg) Overall (waist): 12 1/2 inches (31.8 cm)

Classification Arms and Armor

Department European Sculpture and Dec Arts

Credit Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Eugene H. Welker

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 56.124.3

Markings

Marks Stamped, below rolled neckline at center: armorer's mark, associated with a so-called “Master HT or TH” [T nestled with within a a serif H], along with the guild mark of Landshut [a stamped War Hat]

Provenance

Until 1931, Unknown private collection;
July 14 1931, purchased at [Christie's, London] by William Randolph Hearst [1869–1951], Saint Donat's Castle (Llantwitt Major, Wales).
1951, by descent to Hearst's British executors, the National Magazine Company, Ltd. (London, England)
1956, purchased by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA).

For more information on provenance, please visit:

Provenance page

Exhibition History

Please note: This section is empty

The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

We welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.

Suggest Feedback

Published References

Bulletin of the DIA 36, no. 3 (1956-57): p. 69 (ill.).

Pignataro, Megan Reddicks, Livingston Bailin, and Chassica Kirchhoff. “Divesting and Dismembering.” Bulletin of the DIA 97, no. 1 (2023): pp. 66–83.

Kindly share your feedback or any additional information, as this record is still a work in progress and may need further refinement.

Suggest Feedback

Catalogue Raisoneé

Please note: This section is empty

Credit Line for Reproduction

Master HT or TH (armorer); German, Breastplate with Tassets, ca. 1500-10, Steel, leather. Detroit Institute of Arts, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Eugene H. Welker, 56.124.3.