A hard day's knight

A shining exhibit at the Higgins Armory Museum

by Leon Nigrosh

ROMANCE IN STEEL:THE HERITAGE OF ARMOR
at the Higgins Armory Museum, 100 Barber Avenue, Worcester, through June 3

What is so fascinating about knights in shining armor that their images and lore still permeate our collective psyche? After all, the last metal-clad warrior left the battlefield almost 400 years ago. Could our continuing affection be caused by the lure of gleaming metal plates and the assortment of sharp, pointy, murderous objects? Or is our fondness for knighthood based on its representation of heroic bravery, chivalry, and unwavering honor? The answers to these questions may possibly be found in the current exhibition at the Higgins Armory Museum. Senior curator Walter Karcheski has assembled more than 80 objects from the late 1500s right through the present day that concentrate on the enduring nostalgic aspects of medieval arms and armor.

The exhibition opens benignly enough with a full suit of 16th century Augsburg armor resplendent in all its fine handwork. The first hint of something amiss occurs when we read the accompanying label. It seems that sometime in the 19th century someone tried to make the suit more valuable by gussying it up with leafy decorations - which actually ended up decreasing its value. Then there's the portrait of Henry Seymour Portman painted by Sir Godfrey Kneller in 1714. Here we see the English nobleman posing on a battlefield, dressed in an accurate depiction of Greenwich armor, perhaps implying bravery and leadership. In truth, the closest Portman ever got to a battle was the fact that his uncle fought at Sedgemoor 29 years earlier.

Even laymen will soon realize that something is awry with the 19th century shaffron (head defense for a horse). Made of thin, easily bent materials, with misaligned eye protection, this fake was quickly produced to meet the demand by wealthy arms and armor collector/dilettantes of the time. The whole Gothic Revival period had swept through Europe, and to some extent the U.S., producing an encompassing sentimentality for things medieval. There were the serious collectors like Napoleon III, the czars of Russia, and the emperors of Germany - even the occasional American industrial tycoon. But most people could little afford real antique armors, so they settled for drawings, paintings and lithographs by artists like Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier (1815-1891) or William Frederick Yeames (1835-1918), who romanticized knighthood for the mass market.

But it was not until the dawn of the 20th century that things really began to get out of hand, as can be readily seen in the second gallery. Renewed interest in Jeanne d'Arc as the ill-fated savior of 15th century France led to widespread production of ornamental "artworks" such as paperweights, bookends, wall plaques, and eventually even Joan of Arc salt and pepper shakers. One notable work is the gilded bronze sculpture, Jeanne d'Arc, made by Emmanuel Frémiet in 1874 based on a life-sized work he completed two years earlier. Here we see the young girl as national hero astride her horse defiantly leading her minions. In an interesting juxtaposition, Karcheski has placed Saint George next to Jeanne. This bronze-cast statue, made in 1899 by Frémiet's former student Sir Alfred Gilbert, has a curiously feminine stance. George looks less like a dragon-slayer and more like Salome.

Leave it to the Americans or the 40s and 50s to aspire to the heights (or depths) of kitsch in their portrayals of knighthood, such as the 1943 Classic Comic Ivanhoe, virtually a Cliffs Notes of Cliffs Notes. Or the knight in armor cigarette lighters - some with music box bases, or the ceramic helmet and shield salt and pepper shakers. Or how about an aluminum "Camelot" ice bucket in the shape of a medieval barbute helmet.

Far and away the most sublimely ridiculous object in this exhibit is the 1950s Kneeling Knight Television Lamp, a black-glazed ceramic warrior genuflecting in front of a genuine plastic-laced Fiberglas screen. This item was used to provide ambient light so that the deadly rays emanating from your TV wouldn't damage tender teen-aged eyes.

What is the point (pun intended) of this exhibit? The age-old lingering interest in medieval arms and armor is like a three-edged sword. (Yes, Virginia, there is such a thing. Check the Great Hall.) Serious inquiry into historical artifacts as they relate to their times is equally as important as an appreciation of the artifacts as works of art, as well as instruments of human destruction. The objects also engender thoughts of integrity, gallantry, and authority. And besides, it's fun to look at all this funky stuff and simply wonder "why?".

The Higgins Armory Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. Call (508) 853-6015.