Chastity Belt
Culture
European
Datelate 1800s or early 1900s
Mediumsteel
Dimensions20 × 35.5 × 25.5 cm (7 7/8 × 14 × 10 1/16 in.), 1 lb 2 oz (weight, with padlock)
ClassificationsMetalwork
Credit LineThe John Woodman Higgins Armory Collection
Object number2014.791
DescriptionMounted with padlock no#.554.Label TextThe chastity belt may be one of the world’s oldest urban myths. The earliest known reference appears in a German manuscript of military devices, dated 1405. The manuscript describes the chastity belt as being “an undergarment used by the women of Florence.” Quite a number are to be found in modern arms and armor collections today—most, like this one, probably fabricated in the 1800s for the collectors’ market.ProvenancePurchased by Museum on December 23, 1932 from Sumner Healey, NYC. Collection transfer from Higgins Armory, January 2014.
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