Armor for America: The Duc de Dino Collection

Arms and armor collecting in America: history, community and cultural meaning

“…Arms and armor collecting to 1945: the lure of Europe Elite and institutional collectors At the end of the 20th century and into the 20th, a small group of wealthy, east coast connoisseurs not only established major arms and armor collections of their own, but also contributed to the formation of a world class collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (Pyhrr, 2012a(Pyhrr, , 2012b. American collectors preferred European arms and armor from the 15th to the 17th centuries, the same haute époque favored by their counterparts abroad.…”

“…Assembled in France from about 1880-1900, the Dino acquisition received press coverage (New York Times, 1894) (Plate 2). Subsequent research found that among the Dino armor were several heavily restored composites and out-and-out fakes (Pyhrr, 2012b).…”

“…Auction sales of antique arms and armor collections had taken place in the 19th century (Pyhrr, 2012b), but were sporadic and remained so well into the 20th century. By the 1980s, however, various auction houses, either those specializing entirely in firearms and militaria or through their arms and armor departments, had become a notable market force (Flayderman, 2007, p. 15).…”

“…Reproductions of desirable pieces were also made for decoration and sometimes passed off underhandedly as period specimens. The Gothic Revival eventually developed a following in Victorian America and by the late 19th century, a few wealthy American collectors were assembling impressive arms and armor collections (LaRocca, 1985;Pyhrr, 2012aPyhrr, , 2012b.…”