1630~ / 1640~, United Kingdom

1630~ / 1640~, United Kingdom

Identifier
2012.15
Transfer of custody
Victoria and Albert Museum
Acquisition
Purchase, Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Gift, 2012
Collection
Material
Technique
Depiction
Production time
Production place

Description

Harquebusiers were the last type of cavalry to wear armor in England before it went out of use in the mid- to late seventeenth century. This harquebusier's helmet is rare and important for its richly engraved bands of decoration covered in silver and for the high quality of its workmanship overall. These features suggest it was made in the royal workshops at Greenwich, which were established by Henry VIII in 1511 and were in service until the 1640s.