African cuirass?

[fernando]

Originally Posted by Jim McDougall

... In further thinking, one of the tangible theories which has been mentioned here, but gained no further traction, is Colin's suggestion that perhaps this was an old armor put onto an iron display setup...

Making me remember #10:

Originally Posted by fernando

... Or could it be that someone else, in the greatest of fantasies, had the iron part made in order to prop up the historic hide and keep the cuirass upright and 'alive' ?...