It seems that the first known depiction of a plate fencing mask with ties is from 1686 [1] . However there are some tantalizing signs that protective masks were used several decades earlier. Below we could examine two face masks from the Stibbert Collection (Florence). The first mask is a rather interesting one, because it is difficult to say for sure: Was this mask a decorative one (resembling Venetian masks)? Or was it used for some other purposes e.g. fencing?!
The second one, simply placed in a gorget by a curator or originally attached to a gorget, is especially interesting, because it matches really close the description of the object from the Pennsylvania Museum.
„Purchase of European Armor
The Museum's collection of European armor has been greatly strengthened by a recent purchase of fourteen specimens acquired at an important sale in New York. [...] The most striking piece in the group is a French fencing mask of 1625. It is embossed with the verisimilitude of a face with long mustachios and a Louis Trieze pointed beard; the mouth and eye openings have upraised borders, to deflect the stroke of the opponent's blade; the eyelids, beard, and mustachios are ornamented with roping.” (Page 24) [2][3]
„Accessions October, 1921 - February, 1922
Class: ............... Armor
Object: ............ Fencing mask, French, 1625
Source: ............By purchase, Keehmle Fund and Bloomfield Moore Fund” (Page 29)
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- Fencing Material Culture (2014)
- THE PENNSYLVANIA MUSEUM BULLETIN * PUBLISHED AT MEMORIAL HALL. FAIRMOUNT PARK, PHILADELPHIA, BY THE PENNSYLVANIA MUSEUM AND SCHOOL OF INDUSTRIAL ART NUMBER 70 FEBRUARY, 1922
- This bulletin is marked with a library stamp: „Philadelphia Museum, Library, College of Art”.
