Within a week I am going to visit familie in canada.
They life in the area of Toronto, in Ontario (more or less)
So I am no wandering if there is any (ancient) arms and/or weapons related museum out there that's worth a visit??

Folkert

The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is in Toronto. It has a very nice collection that is fairly well presented. Several of the swords that Oakeshott mentions in the AOW and ROTMS can be found at the ROM. The arms and armor exhibit can be found on the second floor although there are (or were it's been a few years) some interesting pieces in the central area of the museum downstairs too. I spent several very pleasant sessions there a few years back taking pictures and making notes. I highly recommend it. Also the rest of the museum is worth exploring as well... Take in the rest of Toronto too, it is by far my favorite large city.

Unless somethings changed since I last went about 9 yeras ago(quite likely) they have a very nice collection of Indo-Persian/Ottoman Turkick arms and armour as well. There used to be one room that was two tiers of nothing but maille and plate suits of armour.

Thanks Russ and Allan!!

I will put that museum on my "things to go and see" list...

One especially nice thing about the ROM is that on Fridays, from 4:30 until it closes at 9:30, admission is free. Not that the price of admission isn't money well spent.

:\

I will warn you that the ROM has been under massive renovations for more than a year. Last I heard, much of the medieval and Renn exhibits in the third floor Samuels Galleries were being renovated. Check their website for more details.

FWIW, they had a nice selection of late medieval & Rennaissance arms and armour displayed. Nothing like the Met or the Higgins but worth a visit. The rest of the place can easily take a couple days to go through. Its a general interest museum, although it has way too much space devoted to the Chinese and Korean exhibits, IMHO.

If you are interested, you could also make time to visit AEMMA while you are in town. We are affiliated with the ROM and provide swordsmanship classes for ROM members on Saturday afternoons, in addition to our regular training schedule. First visit to our training facility is free, just send in a request so we can have an experienced guide available to chat. www.aemma.org.

Cheers!

Kel Rekuta
AEMMA Free Scholler

Cool, let us know what you find!

Good Morning!

I was at the ROM for a symposium and demo yesterday. I took time to visit the Samuels Galleries and found very little had changed. The "furniture and lifestyle" area beyond the arms and armour displays had been changed somewhat. One display of crossbows and hunting equipment was cleared out for renovation. Having a "contractor" pass allowed me to take a few photos without hindrance, especially a few details of the Welsh buckler. Other than that most of the arms and armour displayed is similar to that found anywhere else. I'll post some pics later.

Gotta go walk the dog. Its glorious weather here after a week of blustery days spent indoors. :cool:

TTFN,

Kel