During the same journey where I visited the Cluny last month (thread below) I also visited the Tower of London.
http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t...highlight=

Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress houses not only the Crown Jewels and the primary residences of the Yeoman Warders that guard it, but also a portion of the Royal Armouries collection (based in Leeds) on display in the keep.
The current exhibition is called "Fit for a King" and focuses on royal armor from the Tudor and Stuart dynasties.

I snapped a few photos of the pieces on display and thought I'd share them here. :D


View of the Tower from the North as you emerge from under a bridge.


A shot of the outer ward, established in the 13th century, just beyond the moat that has been drained and filled since the 19th Century


"The White Tower" in the center of the structure where the weapons are displayed, a Norman keep built by William the Conqueror.


The "Fit for a King" exhibit at the entrance, beginning with armor made for Henry VIII after he established the royal armour workshop in Greenwich in 1511


A shot of Henry VIII's silvered and engraved armor from 1515, commemorating his marriage to Katherine of Aragon. It's accompanied by engraved Flemish-made horse armor.


Some of Henry VIII's more robust tournament armor. There are several examples, and they grow in size along with Henry's girth as the years pass!


The sword of Oliver Cromwell. A well-known piece that is intimidating in-person. The display mentioned that the hilt treatment is though to be a later addition.





A display showing the personal swords of a line of kings. I took closer shots of my favorites, but forgot to include which kings they belong to! :blush: I'll try to find out and edit this later.
*EDIT* As far as I can tell, these are from left to right the swords of:
George I, George II, George III, George IV, William IV, Edward VII, George V, and Edward VIII.

The Sword of George IV

George II

George V


A suit of Japanese armor given as a gift to James I around 1610.




...Continued in the next post

More photos!

A spectacular suit of gilt armor from about 1612, built for Henry Prince of Wales but inherited by his younger brother, who would become King Charles I four years later.

The engraved and punched foliage is incredible.


Some wooden horses and armor from the "Line of Kings" public display at the tower from 1600.


A couple of enormous ceremonial swords, built for visibility, not war.



A shot out the window in the chapel. :)


Some more armor! Forgive me for not taking a more comprehensive look at the available pieces; I realize now that I forgot to take quite a few pictures of things I was too busy looking at. The piece on the right is a suit of boys armor made by a Dutch craftsman for the future King Charles I around 1615. It later passed to his son, the future King Charles II.


One of the smallest suits of armor next to the Worlds Largest, known as the "Giant and Dwarf." The "Dwarf" armor is just over three feet high, while the "Giant" was built for a warrior that stood 6 foot 9.


An Ethiopian shotel from the 19th century


And authentic nihonto. I tried to get a shot of the kissaki, but could not get it in focus.



A British enlisted cavalry service M1885 saber with an unknown musket above.

Look at the thickness of the spine!


An officer's sword said to have belonged to Peter the Great (1682-1725) of Russia. More likely, it belonged to an officer of Catherine the Great (1729-96).


More to come!

Great pictures!

Was there anything more about the 'dwarf' and 'giant' armors? I assume they were ceremonial in nature.

Thanks for taking the time to upload and share these museum visits. It is a real treat for the vicarious tourists such as me.

Cheers

GC

I went there in 2005 and really enjoyed it. I recommend the visit to anyone. There's enough there to see that it extends well beyond just the subject of arms and armour.

Happy to share, folks. :D

Yea, a visit to the Tower is a very full afternoon. The history, the jewels, the architecture, the stories--I'd allow at least 4 hours to take it all in, and there's really something for everyone there.

I forgot to mention that the entry fee is a bit pricey--between 16-20 quid depending on your circumstances. Worth it, I think, but it shouldn't be rushed.

On the next batch of photos soon. :)

More Swords! Including a rather wild swiss saber.





crazy blade detailing here


A rapier with filework that transforms the bars into chains


A hunting sword with a rather uncomfortable-looking antler grip



Two more japanese nihonto

If you look closely you can see the pattern of the tamahagane steel on the right


Again my camera does not want to capture the tip of the sword. But you can see some of the detail on the greaves behind!


My favorite rapier there, a vicious hollow-ground number.

Here's the last of the bunch. :D Some of the more odd things I saw there.

Some fancy handguns, not sure why they're there.

The leaf decorations on this Smith & Wesson model 29 centerfire are meant to represent five different woods used in gun-making.

This customized .357 magnum with red gold, enamel and diamonds was in possession of the Metropolitan Police for a while before it was transferred to the Royal Armouries. Nifty.


This is a dragon made of weapons. The claws are made of pistols, the wings are cannons and guns, the horns are pole arms, etc. etc.
There was no explanation provided for this thing, it was just THERE. On top of a bunch of barrels. I have no idea why.


Military Dress sword of the Duke of Wellington, 1948.



Executioner's axe and block.



A double-sided interactive display with a couple of blunted Albion Gaddhjalt swords. Each weapon had a sensor attacked to the pommel-end that would change the information displayed to the side when you picked them up.



A norman toilet!


A Del Tin 2153 hand-and-a-half. It had some sort of dark surface treatment all over to protect from rusting.


A shot of the grounds of the inner ward, why not?


A portcullis!


And finally, a sentry guarding the Crown Jewels. No photos allowed in there, unfortunately.
Seems I forgot to grab a shot of the beefeaters, but members of the Queen's Guard have better hats anyway. ;)


Thanks for looking!

Wow! Thanks for posting :) My favorite out of all of them has got to be the ceremonial bearing swords, those are insanely huge! :eek:

That red pistol looks impressive!

The smaller armour, by the way, is not made for a dwarf but for a child, in this case, King Charles I (Prince of Wales when he was a child.)