Showcase 27. Russian arms of the XIIth to XVIIth centuries

The XVIIth century witnessed the flowering of Russian arms-making. It was the period of wars and internal political perturbations which influenced the development of techniques and range of cold steel and firearms. At that time Moscow was the center of arms-making with its own school, where European armourers were invited to collaborate with Russian makers. The showcase contains suits of armour, sidearms, combat headgears and weapons by Russian makers from the XIIth to the XVIIIth centuries.

The Armoury possesses a large collection of military helmets, demonstrating the skill of the Moscow craftsmen, various forms of Russian military equipment. Along with spiked sheloms Russian armourers used dome-like helmet. Beginning from the late XVIth century, semi-spherical shishak caps and other low combat headgears resembling them in shape gradually replaced spiked sheloms in the Russian military. The most widespread type of defensive armour in Old Russia was chain-mail, made of small interlaced iron rings. The exhibits include a rare specimen of a baydana chain-mail, assembled of wide flat rings.

The Armoury collection contains about three hundred firearms executed by the Kremlin makers. In their hands the barrels, locks and butts were transformed into real works of art. They showed remarkable inventiveness and imagination when executing powder canisters, cocking-pieces, flintlocks and springs. Barrels of ceremonial and hunting firearms were decorated with carving, chasing and gilding; butts were inlaid with pearls, silver plating and ivory. Of particular interest from artistic and technical side are examples of firearms, created in XVII century by Russian and foreign Armoury masters Pervusha Isaev, Ivan and Timophei Luchaninov, Grigoriy and Afanasiy Vyatkin, Philipp Timofeev, and in XVIII century - court armourers Pyotr Lebedev, Ivan and Gavrila Permyakov, Iogann Grekke and other eminent masters of that time.