RECONSTRUCTING A MUSCLE CUIRASS, PART 1 NEW COPY OLD DESIGN

The bronze muscled cuirass. A marvel of metalworking, a milestone of artistic sophistication, and an icon of ancient Greek armour, it embodied its wearer’s status – and quite possibly saved his life. One of the finest surviving examples is on permanent display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (1992.180.3). Working with the guidance of worldrenowned master medieval armorer Jeff Wasson, I set out to make an accurate replica of it.

By Andrew Yamato

Reenactors don't tend to get taken very seriously by professional historians, but those of us portraying ancients have a unique angle. By donning accurate panoplies and testing weapons and tactics which would otherwise exist only in academic theory, we are increasingly recognized by open-minded scholars as having unique and important perspectives on many fundamental yet uncertain aspects of warfare. Armourer Jeff Wasson started out as just such a reenactor himself. I met him at the very first outing for my hoplite group. Impressed with the tube-and-yoke corslets I’d made for us, he arranged for me to visit his workshop. I was hooked from the moment I walked in. I’d never done metalworking before, but immediately offered my services as an apprentice. After several months of learning to help make medieval armour,…

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Ancient Warfare (Digital) - 1 Issue, AW XVII.1

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