Miniature armor - Lot 107

Lot n° 107
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Estimation :
5000 - 7000 EUR
Result with fees
Result : 6 594EUR
Miniature armor - Lot 107
Miniature armor Roslyn, (Long Island, NY), signed Léon Masselin, dated 1934 H. of armor 22 cm - H. with base 49.5 cm Miniature armor Roslyn, (Long Island, NY), signed Léon Masselin, dated 1934 H. of the armor 8 11/16 in - H. with base 19 1/2 in 100 CH Provenance: - Clarence H. Mackay Collection Mackay Collection, Roslyn, (NY) - Sale Sotheby's New York, January 15, 1991, lot 451 Armureminiature, made in April 1934 by Léon Masselin, faithfully reproducing a German harness circa 1560, black with white polished stripes, and comprising a bourguignotte, a colletin with lamellar shoulder pads, a dossière and a plastron with a pointed bustc extended by a poacher with long articulated tassettes. The various parts are held together by red leather straps attached with brass buckles. The reverse of several of the parts bears the engraved inscription "L. Masselin / armurier / Roslyn LI NY/ April 1934". Presented on its original stand, a padded mannequin on a wood and hardstone base. Léon Masselin (1886-1956) was a French gunsmith who settled permanently in New York from 1928. He was the son-in-law and nephew respectively of François Daubresse and Daniel Tachaux, the Metropolitan Museum of Art's first armorer-restorers, to whom he certainly owed his introduction and recommendation to American arms collectors. He worked for the great financier Clarence Mackay (1874-1938), who had an important collection of weapons at his home in Roslyn, on Long Island, near New York, many of which are now at the Metropolitan Museum. Masselin took care of the maintenance and restoration of Mackay's armor (which sometimes included remaking missing parts), using traditional techniques akin to the skills of ancient armorers. This miniature suit of armor he made for Clarence Mackay himself is therefore an extremely detailed and faithful copy of a genuine 16th-century suit of armor. Very good condition, with a few brittlenesses and breaks in the leather.
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