Subject: cavalry cuirassier

Culture: Dutch Protestant

Setting: Spanish war, Netherlands late 16th - mid-17thc

Object: armor

* Metropolitan Museum of Art > Stone Gallery of Arms and Armor

"Cuirassier's Armor Steel, etched and gilt Possibly Dutch, dated 1621

This armor appears to belong to a small group of finely made Dutch armors from the first third of the seventeenth century. The date is found in the decoration of the lowest plates of the poleyns (knee defenses) and reads, ANNO (left); 1621 (right).

"Both the breastplate and backplate were proved, that is, a pistol or musket was fired at them to insure that they were bulletproof. The resulting dent was then hammered out so as to leave only a slight depression, which was incorporated into the decoration.

"The helmet's peak and falling buffe are restorations of the nineteenth century." ...

Higgins Armory Museum > Great Hall > Combat Wing *

"Composite three-quarter field armor for a cuirassier

Netherlands and Savoy 1610/20-1645 Steel (later blued) with gilding; iron; brass; modern leather, fabric and other restorations" ...

* Royal Armouries Museum > War Gallery

"Cuirassier Armour Dutch, about 1630 This is a fine example of the type of armour worn by cuirassiers, the heavy cavalry of the 17th century. Senior officers in particular were frequently portrayed in this type of armour. The ivory-stocked pistols are Dutch, made in Maastricht about 1650. The wood-stocked pistols were made by the London gunsmith William Wilson. They bear the Arms of the Commonwealth, introduced in 1649 following the abolition of the monarchy."