Up Close exhibition online

Japanese armour or domaru, Nambu, Japan, 16th century

The armour was presented to King James VI and I in 1613 as a gift from the Shogun Tokugawa Hidetada, by Captain Saris of the East India Company.

Elephant armour or bargustavan-i-pil, South Asia 17th to 18th century

This armour was probably made around the 17th century, but it is difficult to say exactly where or for whom. The plate and mail structure was most widely used in northern and central India, particularly in Muslim states. However, the peacock, lotus bloom and fish motifs embossed on the larger panels may indicate it was made or used in an area which maintained at least some frameworks of Hindu belief and reference.

Armour for a boy, probably Henry Prince of Wales, Netherlands, about 1607

The armour is decorated with the story of the campaigns of Alexander the Great, and was presented as a gift in 1608 to the eldest son of James I, Prince Henry, who died in 1612 at the age of 18.

Armour of King James II by Richard Holden, London, England 1686

This harquebusier armour by the London armourer Richard Holden was made for King James II of England and VII of Scotland in 1686 following the 'Monmouth Rebellion'.

Portrait of the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V by Peter Paul Rubens, Belgium 1603-5

The portrait was probably painted in about 1603-5 during Rubens's first visit to the Spanish Court of King Phillip II, son of Charles and his successor to the Spanish throne.

Peti

Burgonet, Augsburg, Germany, about 1600

The helmet's delicate decoration of embossed designs featuring bunches of fruit and flowers, interspersed with birds and insects and fire-gilded copper panels in the form of a variety of Classical figures and trophies of arms, made it unsuitable to be worn on the battlefield. Instead it was designed for parades and other ceremonial occasions where its beauty proclaimed the power, wealth and culture of the wearer. 

The "Lyle" bascinet

St. Mark

"Aliens" movie prop

Presentation pair

James Low

Tabar

Ge