The dream of chivalry Arms and armour and their appeal to the American collector of the Gilded Age

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In an era steeped in the Gothic Revival, no image encapsulates the romance and the material culture of the Middle Ages more than the ‘knight in shining armour’. The suit of armour invokes the chivalric world of medieval Europe in a very direct way with its associated imagery of tournaments, prowess in battle, protection of the weak by the strong, and courtesy towards women. For American collectors such as William Randolph Hearst, William H. Riggs, Frank Gair Macomber, and others, the acquisition of arms and armour proved irresistible. These collectors, wealthy captains of industry, publishing or finance, collected European arms and armour for a variety of reasons. Some were driven by surging intellectual interest, while
others had altruistic or didactic motives. Still others simply aspired to provide evocative furnishings for their residences. Such collections provided imagined genealogical status for their American castles, while
ornamenting their great halls with an aura of antiquity.