Armour (Class II) — 16th century — 1540s
About this product
About this collection
This collection covers 38 armour objects from the 1540s, delivered across 219 images in 28 ZIP assets. Henry VIII's establishment of the Greenwich armoury in 1515 came to full fruition in the 1540s, producing some of the finest armours in English history. The collection spans both Greenwich workshop products and Continental imports that furnished the English court and military of this period.
Why it matters
The Greenwich workshop of the 1540s produced armours that rank among the finest ever made in England — the combination of Flemish and German craftsmen working under royal patronage created a distinctly Anglo-Continental style. The Royal Armouries' holdings from this decade include objects directly associated with the Tudor court and its military establishment.
Use cases & time to value
- Historical production design: Accurate armour reference for period-specific film, game, and theatrical productions
- Arms and armour scholarship: Comparative morphological and technical study of plate armour development
- AI training for historical objects: Labelled armour dataset for object-recognition and period-classification models
- Museum interpretation and education: High-quality imagery for galleries, textbooks, and public programmes
- Auction and provenance research: Museum-quality documentation supporting valuation and attribution
Data schema
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| object_number | string | Royal Armouries catalogue number (II. prefix + sequence) |
| object_name | string | Standardised object type name as catalogued |
| class | string | II (Armour — Body Armour) |
| period | string | 16th century — 1540s |
| image_filename | string | Original filename as catalogued by the museum |
| image_format | string | tif (archival high-res), jpg (catalogue), or bmp (legacy) |
| width_px | integer | Image width in pixels |
| height_px | integer | Image height in pixels |
| file_size_bytes | integer | Uncompressed file size in bytes |
Collection stats
28 assets · 38 objects · 219 images · 16th century — 1540s
Assets (0)
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