Pommel Plate

Jörg Sorg the Younger

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The large mask of a lion with a fiery mane and the crescent pattern of the border decoration, just discernible at the edges of the plate, identify this pommel as part of a complex group of armors or armor garnitures made in Augsburg about 1550. More than forty individual pieces from this group in The Metropolitan Museum of Art represent the remains of two or perhaps three different but closely related armors. The ornamentation that unites the group is attributed to the Augsburg etcher Jörg Sorg the Younger (ca. 1522–1603) on the basis of an illustrated album, known as the Stuttgarter Harnisch-Musterbuch, which depicts armors decorated by Sorg for various clients (Württembergisches Landesmuseum, Stuttgart). Of the three armors in the album decorated in this manner, two are listed as having been made for Spanish noblemen in 1551 and 1553. While there is no direct link between the armors in the Sorg album and the elements in the Metropolitan Museum, most of the Museum's pieces can be traced to London auction catalogues from the 1840s and 1850s, which identify several of them as having come from Spanish collections.

Arms and Armor

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The principal goals of the Arms and Armor Department are to collect, preserve, research, publish, and exhibit distinguished examples representing the art of the armorer, swordsmith, and gunmaker. Arms and armor have been a vital part of virtually all cultures for thousands of years, pivotal not only in conquest and defense, but also in court pageantry and ceremonial events. Throughout time the best armor and weapons have represented the highest artistic and technical capabilities of the society and period in which they were made, forming a unique aspect of both art history and material culture.

Metropolitan Museum of Art