Detrot Institute of Arts, Inv. Nr. 53.193.8A-B "The tassets of this composite harness are nearly identical to Detroit tassets 53.193.8A-B (see attached images of tassets and full composite). These were created in the mid-19th century (before 1867), possibly by Hugo Jubitz or Leonard Hugel of Munich. They were mounted with a combination of authentic elements (a spectacular cuirass for the Geschiftstartschenrennen, cuisses, and pauldrons forged by Lorenz Helmschmid around 1480) and other reproductions made by the same Munich shop. The composite DIA armor was present by at least 1867 in the Rittersaal of the Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen at Schloss Sigmaringen, and it was illustrated as entirely authentic by Auguste Demmin in his Guide des amateurs d’armes et armures anciennes par ordre chronologique depuis les temps les plus reculés jusqu’a nos jours (Paris, 1869, p. 211 (ill.). Since the harness W2161 entered the GNM collection in the 1880s, I wonder whether it could also incorporate some of these early examples of revivalist work by the Munich shop? Jubitz and his successor, Ernst Schmid, were both dealers in historical armor in addition to revivalist reproductions and (sometimes) outright forgeries. For instance, Schmid sold a pair of gorgeous and entirely authentic 1480s gauntlets to The Met in 1924. Schmid made (or reused from the Munich shop’s stock!) tassets of an almost identical type to those in Detroit and Nuremberg, as they appear in a catalogue of works from his Atelier, republished by Mowbray in 1967 (see attached). I’ve recently completed detailed cataloguing of the DIA gothic composite, allowing me to better share details online and present only the spectacular fifteenth-century elements signed by Lorenz Helmschmid or attributed to him in the galleries. Perhaps a similar approach could be beneficial in some future exhibition or version of the GNM armory." Nachricht von Chassica Kirchhoff, 29.04.2024