I found myself at the Higgins today, while driving cross town.
I know, the misery of being only fifteen minutes away

They have a wonderful exhibit going called "Passage To India" It is quite a lovely collection of stuff.
I should say a few collections of stuff. Most of the exhibit is from private collections and Higgins is providing a showcase for them.

A fairly wide selecton or Katars, ranging from diminutive and plain to quite fancy pieces; one of which displays a scissor action that reveals an inner blade.

There are also swords I was quite unfamiliar with like zulfigar, pata and tegha. A few wonderful firearms are displayed as well. The exhibit is worth seeing if you find yourself in the Worcester area.

A couple of minor rants, some circumstances might be beyond their control.

Someone once told me that wall presentations should be centered on five feet from the floor. I was dissapointed in the layout of some of the items with the most intricate detail. They were simply to high up to view the craft. I feel they could have suffled less intricate pieces up, in order to present the reall pretties at their best. Most of all, the chevron patterned tulwar could have used some better lighting.

Anyway, another minor rant. Museum Replicas has gained permission from the Higgins to reproduce one of the swords in the collection. Would it not behoove MRL to present the Higgins with stock of said reproduction? Wouldn't it be a great thing for MRL to provide several items?

It was a very quiet few moments in the gift shop. I think I was one of only two patrons in the building, the staff was hiding. The calander selection was sparse this year, good books few and far between.

I need to get back there more. The Higgins is a grand neighbor to have.
Their web presence is www.higgins.org

Cheers

GC

"Anyway, another minor rant. Museum Replicas has gained permission from the Higgins to reproduce one of the swords in the collection. Would it not behoove MRL to present the Higgins with stock of said reproduction? "

I'm sure they will. I know they (MRL) gave David Edge of the Wallace collection a reproduction of the German rapier .
(the German rapier is #A536 in the Wallace Collection)

I'd really like to see the Higgins, but its far from the neighborhood for me.

Higgins is a great place to visit to oggle . Its somewhat unique here in the states in that it the only collection of arms and
armour not in an art gallery . The gallery collections while great are treated like art(five feet away behind plexiglass
and a rope ) while at Higgins everythings right there . I've seen guy with those little angled dentists mirrors attached to
a bore light looking inside the suits . As long as you don't actually touch it you can get up close and really get a feel
for the details . The gift shop is not to much to right home about . Kind of like the gift shops at the highway gas station pull
offs .

I've enjoyed the gift shop for Xmas shopping. Either they cut way back on their caledar selection, or they sold most. They have had some good books and I'll probably be doing some last minute shopping next week. I was a bit dissapointed not to see involvement by MRL.

The shop seems to have sold some of the swords that had lingered for a couple of years. I was just really suprised that there was not a larger presence by MRL, due to their catalog offering of a historical reproduction from the museum. I guess the museum shop is just not that geared for retail.

The Higgins has a road show going on, across the country. The Age Of Armor exhibit is making the rounds. Look for it at a location near you.

I wish my Saturday schedules didn't conflict with the seminars and and classes. I'm right down the road.

Cheers

GC

My wife and I visited the Higgins museum today and I decided to share few pictures and comments with the community.
First off, this is a fun place to visit!!!! What to expect: many complete or near complete plate harnesses, many post 15c pole weapons. Few early firearms. very few swords and rapiers (only two displayed swords, and 3 swords held by mannequins in harness with no attached info). several axes, 2 maces, 3-4 daggers, few battle axes, 2-3 war hammers. Virtually no pre 15c arms and armor. Several (quite stunning) mail garments from persia. The passage to india exhibition is still on so we got to see several nice examples of indian/arabic origin weapons including a forked-blade saber-like weapon, and a chevron patterned damascus blade. That was amazing.

I will stop rambling and let the pictures speak for them-selves.

Enjoy it

Alexi

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Two of the swords on display held by the mannequens. Note the pole weapons on the wall

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Persian mail shirt, the links look twisted.
It is very beautiful piece of workmanship

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The sword that MRL made a replica of

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A selection of pole arms

Few more pictures

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The MRL's reproduction of the Higgins sword. Just for kicks.

Alexi

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The rings of the Savafid maille shirt are not actually twisted but each is stamped with parts of Koranic passages a not
uncommon theme in this type of large ring middle esatern maille shirt . Higgins is unique stateside in that its the only
collection of armour not in an art museum and therefore not treated as art ( five feet away behind plexiglass and velvet
rope ) but right ther and accesible . I've seen guys in there with bore lights taped to dental mirrors looking inside
breast and back plates/harness and as long a sthey didn't touch it they we're left unmolested .

Thanks Alan,

I could see that the links of the mail shirt are "patterned" in some way, but I did not recognize the writing, hence I described them as "twisted". A will second Allan's opinion that the layout of the items is awesome as most of them ire set there in plain view, as opposed to being behind glass. There were few items set too high on the walls for a good picture and examination, as others have noticed. Now the danger of having weapons set in plain view is that people like me will touch them (not a good idea in general, but very very tempting). Here is a picture :lol: I got yelled at later for "JUST" putting a finger on a halberd, but I should have known better. There weren't a whole lot of "Do not touch" signs. I did not see any, but I guess it is just a common sense not to touch things in a museum :D

Alexi

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The mace has a hollow head, and felt quite light. One can move it up and down in this set up