A Cuirassier Three-Quarter Armour. Circa 1620-30, Probably French Or German. Bonhams
LONDON.- Bonhams sale of Fine Antique Arms and Armour on July 20th at Knightbridge included the life’s work of a medical doctor, Peter Parsons, whose passion was armour. Proof of the good doctor’s eye for armour was evident in brisk bidding that saw some very strong prices achieved in some cases making many multiples of their pre-sale estimates. By the end of the 192 item sale just four lots remained unsold, but went in after auction sales.
Lot 189, a Cuirassier Three-Quarter Armour, circa 1620-30, probably French or German, estimated at £12,000-15,000 went for £50,400, the top item in the sale. Lot 187, a blackened Cuirassier three-quarter armour, circa 1630, probably Danish, estimated at £10,000-15,000 made £33,600.
A Cuirassier Three-Quarter Armour (detail of the helmet). Circa 1620-30, Probably French Or German. Bonhams
Of bright iron, comprising close-helmet with heavy two-piece skull rising to a low comb and with a tubular plume-holder at the rear, visor and bevor pivoted at the same points, the former pierced with converging tapering bars, bordered by incised lines, and secured by a hook-catch on the right side of the bevor, the latter shaped to the chin and secured by a hook-catch on the left, and single neck-plates front and rear, gorget of one plate front and rear, pivoting on the left and secured on the right, heavy breast-plate with low medial ridge and flanged skirt carrying locking pins for the tassets, back-plate en suite and secured by two hinged hook-catches on either side of the breast-plate, articulated arm defences with large pauldrons each of four plates extending over the front and back, and with five downward-lapping lames over the tops of the arms linked by a turning joint to the upper cannons of the vambraces, bracelet couters with heart-shaped side-wing bisected by a central rib, tubular lower cannons hinged together and secured by a pin-catch, fingered gauntlets each with pointed cuff, wide knee-length tassets each of twenty-one upward-lapping lames, their lower halves detachable at the tenth lame and each secured by two turning pin-catches, and poleyns with pointed side-wings, the main edges line engraved and with turned borders, mostly recessed, dome-headed brass-capped lining rivets throughout: on a wooden stand. Sold for £50,400
Provenance: American Art Association, Anderson Galleries Inc., New York, European Arms & Armor, Collection of the Late Theodore Offerman..., 11-13 November, 1937, lot 325
Probably Sotheby & Co., London, Fine Armour and Weapons, 28 November 1950, lot 145
Christie's & Edmiston's, Glasgow, The Red Hackle Whiskey Collection of Arms, Armour and Militaria [formed by Dr. Charles Hepburn in the 1920s and 30s], 7 June 1979, lot 187 (illustrated with the wrong helmet but sold with the correct helmet at the time of sale)
Acquired from Robin Wigington in 1980
This armour appears to be homogeneous.
A Blackened Cuirassier Three-Quarter Armour. Circa 1630, Probably Danish. Bonhams
Helmets from the 16lth and 17th Century from England Germany and Italy are fascinating conversation pieces and performed strongly in the sale. Lot 175, a rare spider helmet from the 17th Century, either English or French sold for £33,600 against an estimate of £4,000 to £5,000.
A Very Rare Spider Helmet. Mid-17th Century, French Or English. Bonhams
Of iron, comprising a blackened rounded three-piece skull enclosed in an open cagework of flat bars carrying hinged curved tapering neck and face bars, secured by rivets and held in the up position by a sprung slightly domed crown-plate, the latter with release catch above the peak, the base of the skull encircled by a broad band pierced with small holes for a lining and carrying a rounded peak pierced en suite, and with four securing loops; 17.5 cm. high. Sold for £33,600
Provenance: De Bertandono Collection, Sotheby's London, 7 July 1922, lot 9
Dr. Richard Williams Collection (?)
Sotheby & Co., London, Arms and Armour from Her Majesty's Tower of London sold by Order of The Master of the Armouries (Part 2), 15 October 1974, lot 40
Literature: Wolfgang Hermann and Ernst-Ludwig Wagner, Alte Waffen, Munich, 1979, p. 83, no. 46
David Williams, Head of Antique Arms and Armour at Bonhams, said after the sale: “We are delighted with the result which is just the latest indicator of the strength of this part of the art market, the interest in a private collection fresh to the market and a group of enthusiastic international armour collectors who made their presence felt.”
The collection was perhaps a strange interest for a man who spent his life dealing with damaged human bodies, but given that this stunningly beautiful material was designed to limit wound damage, not that surprising maybe.
Among the items in the sale was Lot 191, a 16th Century Saxon Electoral Guard Comb Morion helmet from Nuremberg, that bears figures of Mutius Scaevola and of Marcus Curtius leaping into the gulf, and the arms of Saxony and the insignia of the Arch-marshalcy of the Holy Roman Empire. It was estimated to sell for £8,000-12,000 but made £28,800. This item was from the group of helmets made for the Trabantan guard of the Prince Electors of Saxony.
A Saxon Electoral Guard Comb Morion. Nuremberg, Late 16th Century. photo Bonhams
Of one piece, with rounded skull rising to a tall roped comb, and downturned brim pointed fore and aft and with turned and roped edge, the base of the skull encircled by sixteen gilt-brass lion-masks each with a ring in its mouth, decorated with gilt etching comprising bands of scrollwork enclosing, on each side of the skull, figures of Mutius Scaevola and of Marcus Curtius leaping into the gulf, and on each side of the comb the arms of Saxony and the insignia of the Arch-marshalcy of the Holy Roman Empire (some rust patination and loss of gilding overall), the brim struck with the Nuremberg mark and maker's mark 'HM' above a winged cherub's head, probably of Hans Michel (1539-1599) ; 28 cm. high. Sold for £28,800
Acquired from John Anderson in 1978.
A large number of these morions are believed to have been given to the Dresden Opera House in the 1830s to be used as stage props. They were subsequently acquired by astute dealers and many survive today in public and private collections.
Dr. Peter Henry Irving Parsons (1926-2010) was born in Abertillery, Monmouthshire. He began his medical studies at University College Hospital, London in 1944 and, on qualifying, carried out his National Service at various locations throughout the United Kingdom, attaining the rank of Captain. During this time he was immensely proud to have been part of the team caring for the officers and men of the Gloucester Regiment on their release from a Chinese prisoner of war camp. The regiment had been captured following the famous battle of the Imjin River, for his part in which their Colonel was awarded the Victoria Cross.
During the first half of the 1950s Peter served as Casualty Surgical Officer at the Royal Gwent Hospital, and as Orthopaedic Surgical Registrar in Cardiff from 1955 to 1958. In 1958 he moved to London and it was here, whilst serving as Surgical Registrar in Lambeth, that he met his wife Mary, a theatre sister at the same hospital. In 1960 Peter took up his post as Associate Specialist in the National Blood Transfusion Service and on his retirement in 1986, he was offered the position of consultant. This he declined, in order to be able to attend auctions and exhibitions devoted to antique arms and armour, and to enjoy the company of fellow enthusiasts as far afield as Las Vegas and Los Angeles.
Peter’s interest in collecting European arms and armour started when he was a medical student and it was during this time, just after the war, that he came to know the irascible London dealer Percy German, from whom he acquired many of the pieces in this sale. However, prices asked for European weapons and armour were beyond the means of a medical student and as a result Peter started to collect the unappreciated and relatively inexpensive Japanese armour and weapons which could be readily acquired at that time. This was very opportune as some years later Peter accepted a generous offer for the majority of his Japanese collection, enabling him to concentrate on his true passion for European arms and armour.
