Her Majesty’s armour, most of which resides at Windsor Castle, is comparatively small in numbers. Modesty of size, however, belies breathtaking quality. As the early 20th-century scholar, Sir Guy Laking, put it in the introduction to his selected catalogue of arms and armour at Windsor (1904), “each item… can stand the most severe scrutiny”.
Laking, however, did not bring that kind of intense focus to bear in his own treatment. Although it appears a weighty tome, Laking’s catalogue is comparatively short for something of its kind (283 pages), and is not comprehensive. It includes only the objects he considered highlights.
Thus, despite its famous owners and historic home, this is a collection which has remained largely unknown. The specialist community has been conscious of this gap in the scholarship for many years; steps to fill it with what would ultimately manifest as the present volume (to be followed by future continuations on edged weapons and firearms) began in the 1980s. The original catalogue team comprised Claude Blair, the keeper of metalwork at the Victoria and Albert Museum (general editor), A.V.B. Norman (armour, edged weapons) and Howard Blackmore (firearms), the master and the deputy master, respectively, of the Tower of London Armouries. Norman delivered his draft catalogue less than eight years later, a feat which the former surveyor of the Queen’s works of art, Geoffrey de Bellaigue, regarded as “an amazing achievement”.
The deaths of Norman in 1998 and Blackmore in 1999 were tragic losses, an injurious double-blow to the project. Fortunately, in 2000 Ian Eaves, the keeper of armour at the Royal Armouries (the Tower collection renamed), was invited to move the work forward. As co-author of the first volume, Eaves was responsible for the updating and expansion of Norman’s work and the authorship of new entries and other elements.
Quite apart from the texts, which are as uncompromisingly extensive, thorough and detailed as anyone could hope for, Arms and Armour in the Collection of Her Majesty The Queen: European Armour is gorgeous visually. The army of full-page plates, combined with a continuous parade of details, views of disassembled elements, and contextual images is clearly a product of the authors’ passion for their subject and their respect for their readers.
This book documents some of the most significant armours in British history. There is the imposing “white and plain” garniture of Henry VIII (cat. no. 4; around 1540), followed by elaborate armours made for Elizabethan statesman Sir Christopher Hatton (cat. no. 6; 1585), Henry, Prince of Wales (cat. nos. 8, 9, 10) and the future King Charles I (cat. no. 12; around 1615). There are also objects of considerable significance here documented for the first time, such as two 15th-century jousting helms converted for funerary use in St George’s Chapel, Windsor (cat. nos. 16-17).
Another attribute that strengthens and distinguishes the work is the way in which scientific data is fully integrated throughout. This is in great part due to the important analytical contributions of archaeometallurgist Alan Williams, but it is also indicative of the unity of the scientific and art-historical approaches characteristic of the way the Queen’s collection is cared for. The position of Queen’s armourer is an almost unique fusion of conservator and curator. With the Queen’s armourers Jim Jackson (retired in 2003) and Simon Metcalf (current) working closely with the external catalogue authors, the final work has achieved a robust synthesis of two traditionally separate disciplines.
Of criticisms there are few, mostly too minor to mention. One which perhaps ought to be is the editorial choice to preserve what one assumes to be Norman’s cataloguing format, which places description of decoration almost before anything else. For some readers this may feel somewhat abrupt, since it comes before any overall explanation or summary of the object’s basic function and origin. One can certainly respect the decision to preserve the writing styles of great scholars with whom discussions on such matters can no longer be had. Nevertheless this format does make the entries slightly more difficult to use.
The book’s complicated history makes the materialisation of this work all the more impressive. Despite being aware of the progress of the project previously, I could never have been prepared for the experience of opening a package to find “new” work by a leading figure in the field who departed this life nearly 20 years ago. Beyond Norman’s central authorial role, the detailed introduction by Howard Blackmore comes as a complete surprise, while the extent of Blair’s direct involvement could not have been fully anticipated either. New words, from three of the 20th century’s great scholars, defying time and the grave. The concept of “living on through one’s work” now seems much less like a facile truism.
When one enters the Lantern Lobby of Windsor Castle, where stands the armour of Henry VIII, it is difficult not to experience the sense that the king himself is present. In life, an armour contained and protected its owner, functioning as an extension of his physical self. In death, it remained, embodying an enduring testament to the owner’s existence, deeds and identity. It is strangely fitting that this book works in the same way. It stands as a monument to its authors both living and dead, creating the same magical effect as do the armours it describes with such love and skill.
• Tobias Capwell is the curator of arms and armour at the Wallace Collection in London and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. He is the author of Armour of the English Knight 1400-1450 (Thomas Del Mar, 2015)
Arms and Armour in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen: European Armour
A.V.B. Norman and Ian Eaves
Royal Collection Trust, 528pp, £95 (hb)