Half-Shaffron (Horse's Head Defense)

The shaffron is constructed of a main plate that tapers to a deep, blunt point in the middle of the nose, with bold flanges over the eyes and deeply arched sides. The ear guards are separate, as is the escutcheon plate; the poll plate is missing. The edges are turned and roped. The etched decoration, organized in bands around the edges and in three bands converging down the center of the main plate to the escutcheon, consists of scrolling foliage, cornucopias, vases, and a distinctive grotesque motif that comprises a slotted scroll with wings and a monstrous, leafy face, all set against a dotted and blackened ground. The undecorated surfaces are blackened (modern). The escutcheon plate has scrolled edges and is etched with foliage on a dotted ground against which is set the Latin inscription VERPUM DOMINI MANET IN ETERNVM ("The Word of the Lord endureth forever" [I Peter 1:25]).

Compact and powerfully formed, this shaffron has a distinctive shape and style of etching that allow us to identify it as having originated in one of the court workshops in the north or east of Germany. The closest analogy is a half-shaffron dated 1553 that belongs to the armor of Margrave Johann of Brandenburg-Küstrin (1513–1571) in the Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin (AD3002 and W2329, respectively). The two shaffrons have the same unusual pointed shape, nearly identical etching, and escutcheon plates bearing pious inscriptions (that on the Berlin example reads SOLUS SPES MEA CHRISTUS HELP GODT 1553 [My Hope is Christ Alone, Help God 1553]). Both were undoubtedly made in the same workshop and at approximately the same date. Were it not for the different inscriptions, the Metropolitan's shaffron could be proposed as a second shaffron for the margrave's armor.

The decoration on both shaffrons includes a plain narrow, sunken band followed by a similar band etched with a row of "pearls," or balls, that outline the wider bands of etching around the edges. These "pearled" bands are a distinctive feature found on a large number of armors made for the court of Duke Heinrich of Brunswick (1489–1568) and his son Julius (1528–1589). However, harnesses of similar form and decoration are also associated with the margrave of Brandenburg, mentioned above, and Prince-Elector August of Saxony (Rüstkammer, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Dresden, M. 97). The Saxon court armorer Peter von Speyer the Elder (rec. 1524–1560/62) of Annaberg is sometimes claimed to be the author of all these armors, but as the greatest number of armors decorated in this fashion are associated with the dukes of Brunswick, their manufacture by local craftsmen in Brunswick or Wölfenbüttel is more likely. In any event, the Metropolitan's shaffron can be confidently identified as originating in one of the small court workshops far from the larger, more "industrial" centers in the south of Germany, such as Augsburg and Nuremberg. The dukes of Brunswick, margraves of Brandenburg, and prince-electors of Saxony were by this date Protestant in faith and shared close political and cultural ties. Their evangelical faith is frequently reflected in the decoration employed on the armors worn at these courts, which includes figures from Old and New Testament history and pious inscriptions.

The motto on this shaffron was a popular one and is associated with several German princes, among them Friedrich the Wise (d. 1525), Elector of Saxony; Johann Friedrich (d. 1554), also Elector of Saxony; Christoph (d. 1568), Duke of Württemberg; and Alexander (d. 1592), Duke of Schleswig (Dielitz 1884, p. 348). It has therefore not been possible to identify the owner of this shaffron with certainty.

Credit: Rogers Fund, 1928