Keyhole Plate made from a Breastplate

Culture Northern Italian , probably Milan

Datebreastplate about 1555-60

Mediumetched and blackened steel

Dimensions36 × 33.5 cm (14 3/16 × 13 3/16 in.), 2 lb, 14 oz (weight)

ClassificationsArms and Armor

Credit LineThe John Woodman Higgins Armory Collection

Terms

Object number2014.682

DescriptionThe breastplate has two holes for a lance-rest, one of them now plugged, though the metal seems rather light for a cavalry breastplate. There are 9 holes around the perimeter for attaching the plate to what was probably some sort of door. Part of one side-edge is partly crimped over.
Label TextA variation on the Biblical “swords beaten into plowshares,” this breastplate was cut up and reworked into a keyhole plate for a large door lock. Such usage of armor was not uncommon during the seventeenth through nineteenth centuries. Helmets made handy pots and buckets, and breastplates were also used as the trays of weighing scales.ProvenanceEx collection Angelo Peyron (Florence, Italy). Purchased by the Museum on 6 November 1954, from Savoy Art and Auction Galleries (NYC), sale no. 450, lot no. 846. Paid $20 for lot. Collection transfer from Higgins Armory, January 2014.

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