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Armor for Field and Tilt, of Count Franz von Teuffenbach (1516-1578)
Armor for Field and Tilt, of Count Franz von Teuffenbach (1516-1578)
Image © Worcester Art Museum, all rights reserved.

Armor for Field and Tilt, of Count Franz von Teuffenbach (1516-1578)

Artist (Austrian, active 1554–1565)
Date1554
Creation PlaceEurope
Mediumsteel, brass, lampblack, restored leather
Dimensions181.6 × 78 cm (71 1/2 × 30 11/16 in.), 57 lb, 5 oz (weight)
ClassificationsArms and Armor
MarkingsDated "1554" on belly and back; on lozenge medallion near R armpit of breastplate; on inside of L couter. Initialled SR on helmet skull at nape; on breastplate near top of gussets; on backplate at top of shoulderblades. Inscribed "FRANZISCKH.V.TEVFNPACH" on breastplate at L shoulder, and "FVDR" (Freiherr von dem Reich?) at corresponding point on R shoulder.
Credit LineThe John Woodman Higgins Armory Collection
Object number2014.80
DescriptionConsists of close-helmet, gorget, breastplate with fauld and tassets; backplate; asymmetric pauldrons with detachable haute-pieces; vambraces (with elbow reinforce on the R); gauntlets; 2-part cuisses; greaves with sabatons.

The armor is etched with all'antica bands characterized by trophies, busts, urns, and other motives. The interstices are adorned with etched quatrerfoils with 3-lobed petals. There has been some reetching; see digital/hardcopy file, as well as Grancsay 1961, p. 68, which identifies the original etching as being on the culet, R gauntlet (except cuff), thigh and knee defense (except upper lame of each thigh and wing of L knee), front of both greaves; sabatons, except toe caps.
Label TextThis fine armor is homogenous, with each piece original and made for the suit. It is also unusual in telling us who made it, when, and for whom. The letters S and R on the back of the helmet stand for the armorer Stefan Rormoser, who completed the armor in 1554 according to the date on the belly and back. His client was the distinguished Austrian nobleman Franz von Teuffenbach of Styria. Teuffenbach is represented on the breastplate by the armored man kneeling before a crucifix, although the image is conventional and may not be intended as an actual portrait. However, Teuffenbach is identified by his name etched on a scroll across the top of the breastplate (mostly hidden by the shoulder-guards). Below the left shoulder guard is etched the diamond-shaped image of the “Order of Barbary,” commemorating Teuffenbach’s military service against the Ottoman Turks in Tunis in 1535. He also campaigned against the French in 1536, the Turks in eastern Europe in 1543, and served in various governmental functions in the Holy Roman Empire (modern Germany/Austria). ProvenanceTeuffenbach family (probably until 1920s) Ignatz Pollak (dealer), Vienna Duveen (acquired in 1927) Mackay Purchased by Museum on September 25, 1941 from Jacques Seligmann & Co., Inc. (NYC). From Mackay Estate, their A-18. Collection transfer from Higgins Armory, January 2014.
On View
On view
Current Location
  • Exhibition Location  Gallery 206