[Don Halter]

My self and a few others will be flying into New York in Sept and have made arrangements with at least one curator (New York Met) to get to "play" with some of the items in the reserves. We'll be going down to the Philly Met and the Higgins as well. I plan on burning a dozen rolls of film ...at least, and will have a couple gigs worth of digital film also. Any particular piece anyone needs pics of? Any particular piece(s) in the reserves that you think we should inquire about? I have a few pieces I especially want pics and hands on experience with! Hopefully we'll hear back with good news from Philly and the Higgins! What pieces do y'all consider the "must see" pieces?

[Alexi Goranov]

[Sean Flynt]

Are y'all planning to get detailed stats, too? A tape measure, postal scale and calipers would provide fantastic amounts of information for this community.

[Thomas McDonald]

Hi Don

There is an ornate baskethilt at the Met , known as the Twysden, pictured here ......





A question was raised by Eljay Erickson as to whether one side of the basket was missing a rear guard, or if it was made that way, ? , or if it's just the angle of the pictures we've seen of it that make it appear that way ?

This next pic sorta shows what I mean .....



So if you have the time , or perhaps the curators ear, could you find out for us !
( I've looked at this piece several times, when visiting the Met, and cannot for the life of me remember one way or the other what the deal is ?)

Thanks, Mac

[Steve Grisetti]

[Don Halter]

Will do Mac. I'll print out these pics so I'm sure I got the right one. the New York met is where we'll for sure be with the curator. Somebody just sent me a book on Scottish basket hilts that has pics and such of ones in several museums. I haven't looked through it yet...not detailed anyway..., and I don't even remember the title, but I'll look through it and see if it by some chance mentions this piece.

I'll be bringing some calipers which I'm lining with nylon inserts and a soft tape measure. All of us going are armour builders and "enthusiasts", so construction techniques is the goal of the trip.

Alexi,
Most curators are easy to deal with and usually more than willing to accomodate researchers. I'm guessing it makes their job more fun to bring people truly interested in the pieces in for discussions and such. Kind of like one big show and tell! There is a group of doctors studying gauntlets at the NYMet which we'll get to hang with for a little while and handle all the gauntlets. I'm hoping they have some detailed measurement sheets they might let us copy !

[Don Halter]

Just a few days away! We got the curator of the Higgins to open up the museum on a Monday for us. We submitted a listing of catalog numbers of the collection pieces we want to handle and such. It should be really neat! I have 12 rolls of 35mm film and 500 MB of digital media, plus cloth tape measure and plastic calipers.


http://users.wpi.edu/~jforgeng/MachiavelliIQP/browse.php

Here's the #'s for the items I have requested. the others in my group are wanting primarily 15th & 16th century Germanic armours.

Definitely, absolutely must see:
HAM 2672 Lucerne hammer
HAM 1768 Rondel dagger
HAM 787 Pauldron
HAM 3127.8 a&b coulters
HAM 404 maximillian composite
HAM 2640 a-r italian composite


Would be nice to see...but I won't cry if I don't:
HAM 9 pauldron
HAM 2585
HAM 2589
HAM 426
HAM 701.a
HAM 794 cuirass
HAM 2002.03
HAM 944
HAM 1999.02.3


While in the NY Met, we'll have almost the entire reserve collection of gauntlets out . I'll be sure and get the scoop on the sword as well for you Mac.

I'll put all the pics I take onto a CD and make a copy for here on the forum galleries.

[Thom O'Leary]

Hi Don,

Congratulations on the trip! I went to college in Worcester, MA and was able to go to the Higgins many times, with a few tours and courses there from time to time. The Rondel Dagger is (or at least was) hanging on the wall in the main hall, and I've often looked up at it with itchy fingers.... The staff there is very nice and enthusiastic, not to mention knowledgeable. There is also a very distinctive Japanese helmet - looks like a swirled, spiked metal sea shell - that is breathtaking, even for those interested primarily in European arms & armor. Well worth looking at if you have a chance to examine it. You're definitely going to have a blast - it's a great place (not that the Met isn't as well) - and there are lots of great places to eat near there, too. Looking forward to hearing about your discoveries - good luck!

-TJO

[Don Halter]

Sounds cool! I'll definitely have to check out the Japanese helm. Living in Central Texas...we're not exactly the Mecca of modern civilization so armours are hard to come by! I've been to the Philly museum once several years back (1998?) and Paris back in 1999. That's my extent of close up viewing. I'm wired about the trip...one more day!

Of course, I could do without the remnants of a hurricane lingering about all week, but I guess we'll be inside all week so it really doesn't matter.

[Don Halter]

I'm back now. Really neat trip! Sometime over the next several weeks I'll be putting some pages together with pics and such.

With regards to the baskethilt sword. Yes, something indeed broke off. It had broken pre-aquisition by the MET. I took some pics that clearly show a break point. I also got some other neat tid-bits on the pommel construction. It just so happened that this sword had recently been taken down and cleaned/studied, so it was fresh on the mind . I got some close-up pics of the blade and hilt I can post here.

[Thomas McDonald]

Hi Don

Excellent ..... I look forward to your report & photo's !

Good job, Mac