Peytral (horse's chest armor)
Dateabout 1525–1550
Mediumsteel
Dimensions35.9 x 67.8 x 67.9 cm (14 1/8 x 26 11/16 x 26 3/4 in.), 9 lb, 10 oz (weight)
ClassificationsArms and Armor
MarkingsNuremberg "Beschau" on exterior upper border of mainplate; row of 3 triangular wedges within, on this & right plate (at midpoint of plate). Three small circles & wedge inside of left plate, aligned with 2nd vacant rivet hole from the forward edge.
Credit LineThe John Woodman Higgins Armory Collection
Object number2014.14.1-3
Description3 section unit curved to body & held together with 2 hinges on each side of central plate having screws & nuts on 1 side to attach side plates. Each section formed from 1 piece & slightly flanged on lower edge. Upper & lower edges have pair of wide recessed bands divided by low rib. Edges are plain & inwardly turned. Hinges have scalloped edges & are riveted to central plate. Domed rivets along top & bottom of central plate & lower edge of proper right section. Rivets missing from proper left section.Of three hinged steel plates, the left plate associated to the other two. The defense is shaped to fit the horse's breast, with the plates themselves concave to the body. The mainplate is nearly semi-circular, with a curved edge at the neck, extending down in a steep angle, then flaring out in a horzontal curved flange below. The sides are gently bossed out. The upper and lower edges have rather angular inward plain turns over wire cores. They are bordered by a pair of broad plain shallow recessed bands accented by thin incised lines and divided from one another by low plain ribs. The outermost band is filled by a row of low domed iron rivets for a lining; there are seven rivets above and nine below. The thin iron washers retained within are of irregularly circular form. At either side edge of the mainplate is a pair of decoratively scalloped hinges, themselves fastened by a pair of domed iron rivets. The pivoted half of the hinge passes over a threaded post mounted on the corresponding side plate. These mounts pass through the plate within, and are riveted in place; the plates are secured together with square nuts on the posts.
While the side plates are not a pair, they are similarly formed to one another, and are from the same series of Radziwill peytrals to which this and HAM 479 (deaccessioned) et al belong. Each plate is of trapezoidal form, and curved as noted above, flaring out below, with a border treatment like that of the mainplate. The perimeter of both plates is pierced for lining rivets, most of which are lost. A fragment of the original woven lining remains adhered to the inside of the right plate near the slot for the suspension strap. At about mid height the posterior edge of each plate is pierced with a narrow vertical slot and a hole forward of it, for the lateral securing strap to the saddle or flanchard. A now empty rivet-hole inside the lining holes at the upper rear doubtless once held a suspension strap.
Label TextThis steel peytral served as a form of a breastplate for a warhorse and was suspended around a horse's chest to provide a degree of protection from lances and pikes.ProvenanceRadziwill armory, Nieswiez castle (Poland/Lithuania). Said to have been in Princes Radziwill's sale at Christies, June 1927. Purchased by John W. Higgins on 16 October 1928, with HAM 478, et al., from Theodore Offerman, York Galleries (NYC). Price paid for pair $950. Given to the Armory on 15 December 1931. Collection transfer from Higgins Armory, January 2014.
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