Scientific Analysis of Arms and Armour at the Wallace Collection, London

The Wallace Collection currently displays the largest collection of princely medieval and Renaissance arms and armour in London and the south of England. Over the past few years, a program of scientific analysis has been initiated, with special reference to the study of arms and armour. With only modest funding we have created within the Conservation Department a metallographic facility, to include photomicrography, photomacrography, micro hardness testing, and the ultrasonic thickness measurement of armour. Several projects are under way, of which a few are described below.