TheArtOfArmor2022

These items were chosen for the presentation about collecting armour given as part of The Art of Armor presented by History Live! North East in 2022.

Bio information

Wade Allen
BA University of Virgina in History
MS University of Wisconsin in Computer Science
Former partner with Aaron Toman in Valerius Armouries
Host my collection at www.allenantiques.com and www.european-armour.com
Senior Programmer at IBM, employment 1989-2022

Background in the field of armor:

• My interest in armor started with a visit to the Tower of London when I was 7. I Think that many of us may have a similar background. Toby always talks about his first visit to the Met having a similar type of influence.
• This was before the internet, when books were king and you had to pay per image to get hard copy pictures from museums. And it is hard to do a lot at age 7 when you don't live anywhere near a collection.
• My father was a medievalist, so an interest in history was normal and his trips could offer some infrequent access to collections.
As part of his study, he built a small collection of very early printed editions of major medieval texts and shared the collection with others.
• In 8th grade we were living in France on one of my father's study sessions, so I got to visit the Musee de L'Armee and buy my first real books
  • European Armour by Claude Blair. This was a lucky purchase. It is THE reference. I had read it several times by the end of the 8th grade.
  • European Armour in the Tower of London by Dufty. This is mainly pictures, and does provide a good survey of armor, esp. 16th c. pieces. It is a very good compliment to the less well illustrated Blair.
  • European Arms and Armour by Charles Ashdown. This wasn't nearly as good a purchase, but we learn from doing. It does include a number of illustrations of brasses and some other good pictures.
• The first thing I could do with armour after reading and a few museum visits was in the SCA. Most people want to fight, I wanted to indulge my interest in armour. As a high school student with very little money, building armour was how I could play with armour most easily.
• I spent High school building armour (Aaron and I had a very understanding metal shop teacher who encouraged us), getting to see a few more museums (Metropolitan Museum of Art, George F. Harding collection before it went to the Art Institute of Chicago, Philadelphia Museum of Art), buying more books (always buy books) and buying my first pieces (A-24 and A-35)
• During college I could only build armour during summer vacations. I did a semester in Europe which allowed for a big tour of museums on the European continent (Musee de L'Armee, KHM, Graz, Mantova, Bargello, Stibbert, Doge's Palace, etc.), and I was able to buy a lot of books and a few additional pieces (A-27 and A-28).
• Aaron and I built armor professionally for a few years as the partners in Valerius Armouries. For a while Charles Davis worked with us.
• After getting a Master's in computer science, I was able to get a job that paid a lot more than building armor. I had less time to build and more money to buy. I am still very much a low end collector. I have built this collection while buying a house, raising a son, sending him through college, and owning and paying to train and show Saddlebred horses.
• Throughout this time I have been buying more books on arms and armour. Studying by reading books, staring at images and visiting collections. I also built a few more pieces of armour, including a series of Halloween costumes for my son as he grew. Getting a real feel for pieces and form in person is vital.

• Books and museum trips are a lot cheaper than fakes.
• It is amazing how little provenance is associated with most pieces that come up for sale. Scientific testing of items is almost unheard of when purchasing low end pieces of armor. Most pieces seem to have almost no history, and when there is it may not be accurate. Try to help this by maintaining as much information you can about any pieces you collect. Start this when you buy the first item, and keep up with it. Memory is weak after a while. I maintain an inventory number, date, title, description, where I got it, when I got it, how much I paid and pictures of each piece.
• Decide what interests you and what kind of collection you want to build. Getting side tracked is a great way to spend money without really satisfying your goals, and getting outside of your knowledge base can be expensive.
• Most people who buy armor are dealers or dealer/collectors. This allows you to access more pieces and roll the investment from one piece to the next. Sometimes you can find someone who is studying by buying and selling, and get a source for ongoing purchases. While I was side tracked into knives, I had a connection with Simon Moore who was writing Cutlery for the Table so he was buying, inventorying, photographing and selling a lot of good knives.
• In my case, I am really interested in the construction, form and function of armour. This means that I am looking for pieces that illustrate styles and forms, and not necessarily historically valuable items.
It also means that I tend to keep more pieces than many collectors.

This shows most of the Allen Collection as of 1982. I owned one other knee cop that has since been sold, and a few non-armour items.

Items included: