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Originally Posted by fernando
Here you beat me, Jim; esoterica falls out of my jurisdiction  .
Perhaps those under such influence wouldn't even need to armour the cuirass with iron in the first place ? .
A bit of a reducive approach, i am afraid.
You mean taking an old reptile skin, not a cuirass; we don't know if it was already an armour implement before the present assembly, do we ?
More precisely, managing to christianize their kings, giving them diplomatic gifts (quoting you) which in such way became symbols of power, although not easily accessible to their subjects. But that is another story.
Like saying that this discussed cuirass shape follows European patterns ? could well be.
For your archives i will here upload a rare XV century breastplate, with the Cross of Christ embossed (collection Rainer Dahenhardt).
You got me wrong, Jim; my bad english fault. My understanding places both croc hide and the hard chest piece in the same environment.
Like in other continents; comes to mind cangaceiros (and not only) swords made of truck springs in Brazil.
Yet Panoleon cuirass shows us an austere posture
Yours faithful.
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Excellent redaction of my synopsis Fernando !!!
Looking into the esoterica of symbolism in the study of ethnographic arms and armor is pretty essential to help identiify and classify items which are not neatly categorized in the usual references.
It is rather like the study of Masonic swords and regalia in the 'Western' sense. Personally I find it one of most fascinating aspects of research, and I guess that evolved from the study of markings and inscriptions in sword blades over many years.
Actually, you helped me many times with numbers of those.
It is quite true that if a native warrior was sufficiently convinced of the apotropaic potential of the talismanically imbued armor (actually reptilian hide fashioned into a cuirass possibly European influenced in form)...the iron shield would be redundant.
However, even tradition bound to wear the armor which has been faithfully worn in the earlier years of these societies, it would not be surprising to see the use of the iron under shield pragmatically , given the more modern dynamics of firearms.
While it is true that this metal would not deflect a bullet of high velocity, it must be remembered that in the 19th century, black powder rounds were of low velocity. In many instances, rounds barely penetrated the target owing to many circumstances, quality and condition of powder, improper loading etc.
Getting into the debate on these ballistics issues of the effectiveness of these firearms used in these regions in the 19th century is beyond the scope of this discussion, but certainly pertinent with respect to my observation.
One analogy I would add however, was the case of an American Indian chief in Texas territory in 19th c. known as Chief Iron Shirt. He apparently wore either a cuirass remnant or perhaps mail from an earlier Spanish explorer, and the warriors believed he was magic and impervious to bullets, as they literally bounced off of him.
His luck ran out one day when a sharpshooter's round entered his body through an exposed spot from likely an upraised arm.
That said, whether the natives who wore these types of armor believed the assurances of metaphysics or took the pragmatic approach would be a matter of considerable speculation in qualifying, so my comment was perhaps too broadly noted.
The presence of the Christian cross is simply noted to recognize the West African likelihood of the European styled 'cuirass' (made from reptile hide) as seen often in their material culture there. This feature is also seen in the stylized interpretations of European swords with these on the quillon terminals (usually regarded as Congolese but the influence was from Portuguese traders in West Africa). It has been my understanding that these crosses were seen more in a magic or power sense than any sort of religious quantification.
Best
Jim