SHOWCASE 27. RUSSIAN ARMS AND ARMOUR OF THE 12TH - 17TH CENTURIES

The 17th century witnessed the flowering of Russian arms-making. It was the period of wars and internal political perturbations, which influenced the development of techniques and the widening of cold steel and firearms. At that time Moscow was the centre of arms-making with its own school, where European armourers were invited to collaborate with Russian makers. The showcase contains suits of armour, sidearms, combat headgears and weapons by Russian makers from the 12th to the 18th century.

The Armoury possesses a large collection of military helmets, demonstrating the skill of the Moscow craftsmen, and various forms of Russian military equipment. Along with spiked helmets, Russian armourers used a dome-like helmet. Beginning from the late 16th century, the semi-spherical ‘shishak’ caps and other low height combat headgears resembling them in shape gradually replaced spiked helmets in the Russian Army. The most widespread type of defensive armour in Old Russia was a chain mail, made of small interlaced iron rings. The exhibits include a rare specimen of a so-called ‘baydana’ chain mail, assembled of wide flat rings.

The Armoury collection contains about three hundred firearms executed in the Kremlin workshops. In masters’ hands, the barrels, locks and butts were transformed into real works of art. They showed remarkable inventiveness and imagination when executing powder canisters, cocking-pieces, flintlocks and springs. Barrels of ceremonial and hunting firearms were decorated with carving, chasing and gilding; butts were inlaid with pearls, silver plating and ivory. Of particular interest from artistic and technical side are examples of firearms, created in the 17th century by Russian and foreign Armoury masters Pervusha Isaev, Ivan and Timophei Luchaninov, Grigoriy and Afanasiy Vyatkin, Philipp Timofeev, and in the 18th century - court armourers Pyotr Lebedev, Ivan and Gavrila Permyakov, Iogann Grekke and other eminent masters of that time.