Armour (Class II) — 20th century

About this collection

This collection covers 67 armour objects from the 20th century, delivered across 317 images in 25 ZIP assets. The 20th century saw armour make a remarkable comeback — from the steel helmets adopted in WWI to the body armour that became standard military equipment by the century's end. The collection spans experimental armours, service helmets, and the development of modern ballistic protection across both World Wars and the Cold War period.

Why it matters

The 20th century's armour collection tells a story of technology coming full circle — after 300 years in which individual soldiers wore no body protection, the machine gun and artillery of WWI drove the reintroduction of helmets, and by the late 20th century full body armour had returned to infantry use.

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

Collection stats

25 assets · 67 objects · 317 images · 20th century