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Chris Dobson

Master Armourer

Fine Reproductions: Craftsmanship founded on extensive research.

Artistic ability in the forging and fitting of the plates of an armour counts for nothing if the piece is poorly researched. Even the finest armours in important public collections have frequently been adulterated and scrubbed clean of their original surface finishes over the centuries. Many years of working in museums and private collections has allowed Chris to build up an unrivalled store of hundreds of patterns taken from original pieces, and thousands of photographs, which he employs in combination with an academic study of original surface finishes, period art and documentary evidence.

Above left: Chris Dobson cleaning the breastplate of the garniture of Willhelm, Reichsfreiherr von Roggendorf, by Kolman Helmschmidt (Vienna, Rüstkammer, A374), prior to rebuilding the fauld and tassets. Careful examination of the surface revealed that the original finish of this garniture was peacock blue (purple), with the 'slashed' decoration burnished bright. The intended effect was to simulate a puffed and slashed 'Landsknecht' costume of purple silk or silk velvet, with a lining of embroidered cloth of silver showing through the slashes.

Chris Dobson uses original techniques when making his armours, and great attention is paid to detail: every single fixture, buckle and lock is hand-made, right down to the brass-capped rivets. Plates are hot-forged to shape and helmet skulls, where appropriate, are forged from a single sheet. Once the plates have been rough-forged, the shaping is refined and they are carefully fitted together, before being given their final surface finish and decoration. Chris specializes in reproducing original colour oxide finishes.

The Classical World

The Middle Ages and the Renaissance

The Baroque

Links coming very soon.

Extensive Restoration Projects

Some restoration projects are so extensive, that they are largely reproductions, and as these projects showcase some of Chris Dobson's finest work, photos of some of these projects will be uploaded very soon.

Links coming very soon.