Department of Arms and Armor at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

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The Met's Arms and Armor collection is one of the most comprehensive and encyclopedic of its kind, comprising over 14,000 objects, focusing on works that show outstanding design and decoration, rather than those of purely military or technical interest.

The rapier was the principal civilian sidearm throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Designed for cut-and-t...
09/22/2026

The rapier was the principal civilian sidearm throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Designed for cut-and-thrust fencing of progressively complex techniques, the rapier is characterized by a double-edged blade with an acute point and an elaborate guard for the hand. The guards, usually of iron or steel, were subject to a variety of embellishment. They were engraved, chiseled, gilded, damascened, and encrusted in gold and silver in keeping with fashionable styles.



Rapier. Blade by Clemens Wopper (German, Solingen, active 17th century). Italian; blade, German, Solingen, ca. 1600–10. Steel, gold, silver, brass, L. 45 1/2 in. (115.6 cm); L. of blade 39 1/2 in. (100.3 cm); Wt. 2 lb. 7 oz. (1106 g). Rogers Fund, 1904 (04.3.279).

Stirrup. West Slavic, 10th–11th century. Iron, silver, H. 5 1/2 in. (14 cm); W. 5 1/2 in. (14 cm); D. 1 7/16 in. (3.7 cm...
09/17/2026

Stirrup. West Slavic, 10th–11th century. Iron, silver, H. 5 1/2 in. (14 cm); W. 5 1/2 in. (14 cm); D. 1 7/16 in. (3.7 cm); Wt. 4.6 oz. (130.4 g). Gift of Stephen V. Grancsay, 1942 (42.50.392).

During the seventeenth century, widespread use of fi****ms and artillery transformed military strategy. In numbers and t...
09/08/2026

During the seventeenth century, widespread use of fi****ms and artillery transformed military strategy. In numbers and tactical importance, infantry armed with muskets superseded the fully armored cavalry that had dominated European battlefields for centuries. In response, armor developed into different forms: lighter armor designed for mobility and heavier armor intended to be bulletproof. Alongside fi****ms, swords remained principal weapons, and were often elaborately decorated as signs of wealth, rank, and social status.



Close Hemet for a Cuirassier. Probably Flemish, ca. 1620–30. Steel, copper alloy, H. 14 3/8 in. (36.5 cm); W. 10 in (25.4 cm); D. 13 1/8 in. (33.3 cm); Wt. 6 lb. 4 oz. (1928 g). Rogers Fund, 1909 (09.167).

Cord Ornament (Kanemono). Japanese, 19th century. Gold, L. 1 1/4 in. (3.2 cm); Wt. 0.3 oz. (8.5 g). Gift of Herman A. E....
09/02/2026

Cord Ornament (Kanemono). Japanese, 19th century. Gold, L. 1 1/4 in. (3.2 cm); Wt. 0.3 oz. (8.5 g). Gift of Herman A. E. and Paul C. Jaehne, 1943 (43.120.685).

Siege Helmet. Italian, ca. 1625. Steel, leather, H. 12 in. (30.5 cm); W. 9 7/8 in. (25.1 cm); D. 11 1/4 in. (28.6 cm); W...
08/27/2026

Siege Helmet. Italian, ca. 1625. Steel, leather, H. 12 in. (30.5 cm); W. 9 7/8 in. (25.1 cm); D. 11 1/4 in. (28.6 cm); Wt. 17 lb. 9 oz. (7966 g). Bashford Dean Memorial Collection, Funds from various donors, 1929 (29.158.23).

Daggers with curled “pistol-grip” pommels became popular in the court of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb (r. 1658–1707) around ...
08/21/2026

Daggers with curled “pistol-grip” pommels became popular in the court of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb (r. 1658–1707) around 1660 and regularly appeared in the portraits of Mughal and Deccani officials thereafter. The jade grip of this dagger is inlaid with silver foliate motifs set flush with the surface, a technique that recalls contemporary Bidri ware (from Bidar, in the Deccan), cast zinc vessels that are similarly inlaid with silver and gold.



Dagger. Indian, Deccan, possibly Hyderabad, 17th–18th century. Steel, nephrite, silver, gold, H. 13 13/16 in. (35.1 cm); H. of blade 9 in. (22.9 cm); W. 2 13/16 in. (7.1 cm); Wt. 13.1 oz. (371.4 g). Bequest of George C. Stone, 1935 (36.25.667).

Workshop of Nicolas Noël Boutet (French, Versailles and Paris, 1761–1833). Designs for the Decoration of Fi****ms, ca. 1...
08/16/2026

Workshop of Nicolas Noël Boutet (French, Versailles and Paris, 1761–1833). Designs for the Decoration of Fi****ms, ca. 1797–1805). Pencil, ink, gray wash on paper, 6 1/8 x 8 5/8 in. (15.6 x 21.9 cm). Purchase, Clay P. Bedford Gift, 2004 (2004.101.20).

This is a rare example of a medieval yoroi. The yoroi is characterized by a cuirass that wraps around the body and is cl...
08/12/2026

This is a rare example of a medieval yoroi. The yoroi is characterized by a cuirass that wraps around the body and is closed by a separate panel (waidate) on the right side and by a deep four-sided skirt. In use from around the tenth to the fourteenth century, yoroi were generally worn by warriors on horseback.

Originally, this armor was laced in white silk and had diagonal bands of multicolored lacings at the edges of the skirt and the sode (shoulder guards, missing here). The colored lacings symbolized the rainbow, which represented both good fortune and fleeting beauty. The breastplate is covered with stenciled leather bearing the image of the powerful Buddhist deity Fudō Myō-ō, whose fierce mien and attributes of calmness and inner strength were highly prized by the samurai. The helmet, long associated with this armor, dates from the middle of the fourteenth century.

Traditionally, it is believed that this yoroi was donated to the Shinomura Hachimangū , a shrine near Kyoto, by Ashikaga Takauji (1305–1358), founder of the Ashikaga shogunate.



Armor (Yoroi) of Ashikaga Takauji (1305–1358). Japanese, early–mid-14th century. Iron, leather, lacquer, silk, copper, gold, pigments, H. as mounted 42 3/4 in. (108.59 cm); W. 24 1/4 in. (61.6 cm); Wt. 38 lb. 3 oz. (17.3 kg). Gift of Bashford Dean, 1914 (14.100.121a–e).

This armor has an elegant sculptural quality that is characteristic of the finest Augsburg armors. It is identical in ap...
08/06/2026

This armor has an elegant sculptural quality that is characteristic of the finest Augsburg armors. It is identical in appearance to a series of tournament armors ordered by the duke of Bavaria in 1579–80 from Anton Peffenhauser, the leading armorer in Augsburg during the second half of the sixteenth century. In the joust, or tilt, in the German fashion, two contestants armed with blunt lances rode at one another, left side to left side, separated by a barrier (called a tilt), the object being to break lances or unseat the opponent. Because the left side of the rider was thus particularly vulnerable, it was given additional protection in the form of large, smooth reinforcing plates that would deflect the blow of the lance. Characteristic of these armors are the helm screwed to the breastplate and backplate, the tilt targe (the cape-like defense for the left shoulder) screwed directly to the breastplate, a passguard (the reinforcing plate over the left elbow), and the manifer (oversized left gauntlet).



Attributed to Anton Peffenhauser (German, Augsburg, 1525–1603). Armor for the Tilt, ca. 1580. Steel, brass, leather, H. 68 3/4 in. (174.6 cm); W. at shoulders 18 in. (45.72 cm); Wt. 81 lb. (36.8 kg). Bashford Dean Memorial Collection, Gift of Helen Fahnestock Hubbard, in memory of her father, Harris C. Fahnestock, 1929 (29.154.1a–u).

Double Sword with Scabbard. Chinese, 18th–19th century. Steel, bronze, sharkskin, horn, wood, L. with scabbard 28 in. (7...
07/29/2026

Double Sword with Scabbard. Chinese, 18th–19th century. Steel, bronze, sharkskin, horn, wood, L. with scabbard 28 in. (71.1 cm); L. of each without scabbard 25 3/8 in. (64.5 cm); W. 3 in. (7.6 cm); Wt. of each 1 lb. 1.1 oz. (484.8 g); Wt. of scabbard 12.1 oz. (343 g). Bequest of George C. Stone, 1935 (36.25.1480a–c).

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