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William P




Location: Sydney, Australia
Joined: 11 Jul 2010

Posts: 1,523

PostPosted: Sat 07 Dec, 2019 3:55 am    Post subject: whats the deal with that outlandish plate elephant armour.         Reply with quote

so weve likely all seen it, massive elephant armour made of big solid plates, supposedly indian from stratford armouries. now housed in ripleys believe it or not

it looks big, crude, and it keeps making the rounds as indian elephant armour,

i dont believe for a second that its authentically indian, it looks nothing like indian armour styles for one and its too crude for how expensive it would have been.

but noone, especially since the stratford armouries site shut down, noone on the net seems to have anything to say on who actually made it and when.
does anyone have the faintest idea where it came from?



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Matthew Amt




Location: Laurel, MD, USA
Joined: 17 Sep 2003

Posts: 1,456

PostPosted: Sat 07 Dec, 2019 12:17 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Oh, I LIKE it! Gonna put that on my project list, ha!

All seriousness aside, no, it's no very convincing, especially with that vacation villa on top! Victorian early 20th century costume piece, perhaps?

Matthew
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Tom L.




Location: Toronto, Canada
Joined: 20 Jun 2008

Posts: 35

PostPosted: Sun 08 Dec, 2019 6:47 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

According to a Wikipedia article about the Stratford Armouries:

"The museum features a wide range of exhibits - the most noteworthy include a life-sized armoured Indian elephant, a cannon dating from 1450, and a giant crossbow modelled on Leonardo da Vinci's original design. The elephant armour was designed and constructed by Terry English, a famous armourer who has worked on several famous films including the Harry Potter series."

Hope that helps.

I have a cunning plan Mr. B.
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William P




Location: Sydney, Australia
Joined: 11 Jul 2010

Posts: 1,523

PostPosted: Sun 08 Dec, 2019 7:24 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Tom L. wrote:
According to a Wikipedia article about the Stratford Armouries:

"The museum features a wide range of exhibits - the most noteworthy include a life-sized armoured Indian elephant, a cannon dating from 1450, and a giant crossbow modelled on Leonardo da Vinci's original design. The elephant armour was designed and constructed by Terry English, a famous armourer who has worked on several famous films including the Harry Potter series."

Hope that helps.
yeah i found it later.. i just need to find out why, and for what it was made.
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Anthony Clipsom




Location: YORKSHIRE, UK
Joined: 27 Jul 2009

Posts: 308

PostPosted: Sun 08 Dec, 2019 9:28 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

In several internet references to Stratford Armouries, it notes that the late brother of the curator, Robin Wigington, was a Tipu Sultan expert and had a collection of Tipu Sultan artefacts, seemingly auctioned off after his death. It is possible that this elephant, fantastical though it is, may have been associated with that collection.
Anthony Clipsom
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Graham Shearlaw





Joined: 24 Oct 2011
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Posts: 151

PostPosted: Sun 08 Dec, 2019 4:21 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Next to the other Elephant armours i can't help but wonder how you'd get it on?

The royal armoury one is strapped together at the top an forms a basic caparison with added neck and face segments.
Its also much lighter at currently 118kg so ~150kg with the missing panels, and use smaller plates that need less working and that work could be split up.

The one shown has odd things like the eye covers that remind me of horse blinkers for front vision, so it can't see where its going.. Confused

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William P




Location: Sydney, Australia
Joined: 11 Jul 2010

Posts: 1,523

PostPosted: Tue 10 Dec, 2019 12:31 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

also something i noticed, buth from artwork and these originals, armoured indian elephants didnt have howdahs for some reason.
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Mikko Kuusirati




Location: Finland
Joined: 16 Nov 2004
Reading list: 13 books

Posts: 1,080

PostPosted: Tue 10 Dec, 2019 3:55 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

William P wrote:
also something i noticed, buth from artwork and these originals, armoured indian elephants didnt have howdahs for some reason.

Well, I'd assume there's a limit to how much weight you can put on them and still expect them to perform well in battle. Not just how much they're physically capable of carrying, but how much they can carry while moving across less than perfectly flat terrain without injuring themselves, let alone doing that in active combat. Just like with human soldiers!

"And sin, young man, is when you treat people like things. Including yourself. That's what sin is."
— Terry Pratchett, Carpe Jugulum
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Anthony Clipsom




Location: YORKSHIRE, UK
Joined: 27 Jul 2009

Posts: 308

PostPosted: Tue 10 Dec, 2019 4:25 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

William P wrote:
also something i noticed, buth from artwork and these originals, armoured indian elephants didnt have howdahs for some reason.


But then did Indian war elephants normally have howdahs? Lots of pictures seem to show them ridden either with just a blanket or a low saddle.


Anthony Clipsom
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