Bunratty Castle Medieval Collection

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Lock - Lock and Key - 17th c
Large pre-industrial door lock on oak mount

Pair of wooden torches - Fire accessory - 17th c
Pair of Torches, according to provenance, specially made up for the banquets.

Elizabethan Blazon - Blazon - 16th c
Elizabethan Armoires or Blazon showing Tudor Kingdom, A fine Carved Oak Coat of Arms of Queen Elizabeth I, the shield within the Order of the Garter motto; bold mantling. Honi soit qui mal y pense, translate as "shame on him who thinks evil of it". This is still the motto of the Royal family today. This piece is of noted value.

Oak chest - Furniture - 17th c
Oak chest with elaborate tracery locks. Such strapwork could be a later addition as this was a fashionable amendment in the sixteenth century for such pieces of furniture.

Oak coffer - Furniture - 17th c
Wooden coffer with floral, spiral and diamond etching. This chest is probably Spanish in origin.

Painting of Henry VI - Furniture - 15th c
Henry VI was the only son of Henry V of England and Catherine of Valois, and became King of England when only nine months old after the death of his father in 1422. Within a few months the English declared him king of France after the death of his maternal grandfather, and in accordance with the Treaty of Troyes of 1420. The French, however, declared as their king his uncle as Charles VII. His uncles who opposed each other dominated Henry VI’s minority, and the dual monarchy became too difficult for England to maintain. After the English defeat by Joan of Arc at Orléans in 1429, Charles VII was crowned at Reims.In 1453 Henry became ill, and his kinsman Richard, Duke of York, became Protector the following year. Henry was descended from the third son of Edward III, who had deposed the second son, from whom Richard, Duke of York was descended through the female line. The king quickly recovered, but civil war broke out between the Yorkist and Lancastrian factions. This war was known as the Wars of the Roses.The unfortunate king was captured at the battle of Barnet and sent to the Tower of London, where he was murdered in May, 1471. Henry VI founded Eton College in 1440 and was a great patron of the arts and literature. His mild nature, honesty and piety, and his unstable, weak-willed nature and political naivety meant he was unable to cope with the pressures and responsibilities of kingship that probably drove him to insanity. This painting is inscribed ‘Henric VS’ in the top left, and top right ‘VI’. It shows a man with a pensive expression clasping his hands. The angular jaw, full lips and fine cheekbones are identifiable with other images of Henry VI. Queen Elizabeth II has in the Royal Collection an engraving of the king taken from an unknown source, that is very similar to the image at Bunratty.

Large bell - Religious artefact - 19th c
Ornate studded tapered bell with pair of dragons at clasp

Lobster tailed helmet - Armour - 17th c
A Lobster tailed helmet which was also worn with face guards in the English civil wars (1642-1651). The long tail used to protect the neck and trademark peak make the helmet an artefact of this period. These helmets were probably mass produced and are simpler and less ornate in style.

English Helmet - Armour - 17th c
This is an English “Helmet” type with moveable chin and visor protection. This type of helmet probably gave rise to the English expression ‘shut your face’. The helmet has a locking hook for the chin piece and was also known as a close helmet.

Lobster tailed three bar pot helmet - Armour - 17th c
Lobster tailed three bar pot helmet. This was usually worn as part of cromwellian troopers or harquebus English armour c 1650.

Spanish Backplate - Armour - 16th c
Spanish backplate possibly sixteenth-century. It is ‘waisted’ which provided protection for the lower back. This type of armour was often used by infantry, pikemen or arbeques (rifle men).

Cromwellian Backplate - Armour - 17th c
Cromwellian backplate, this piece is possibly New Model Army armour and was probably used by cavalry as the waist is larger than that used by infantry. Cromwell’s cavalry were known as ‘Ironsides’ from this type of distinctive armour. However due to the expensiveness of such armour, the cuirass (chest plate) of this period cost 13 shilling. Though mass produced during this period, cavalry often sufficed with just a helmet.

Cromwellian Backplate - Armour - 17th c
Cromwellian backplate, from its length and shape, this back plate is likely to be that of a pike man’s armour. However not all infantry would have been issued with such armour which was used during the English civil wars (1642-1651). The cuirass (chest plate) of this period cost 13 shilling. This type of armour was known as Harquebus armour. Most breastplate and backplate of this armour type were stamped with the mark of Armourers Company of London together with the initials of the maker. Up until 1650, the mark was the letter “A” surmounted by a crown but after the execution of Charles I this was changed to the letter “A” topped by a helmet. Such distinguishing features often help to date the piece in question.

Backplate - Armour - 16th c
This backplate is of uncertain origin and is possibly missing a waisted armour piece which would have provided protection for the lower back. Often such pieces would help to identify country of origin. The square shape and shortness of the plate would seem to suggest that it is not English or Spanish armour.

Woodcut - Carving - 16th c
Woodcut prints are one of the oldest forms of creating multiple originals. Examples exist from the early middle ages. Until the late nineteenth century it remained the chief method for producing illustrations. In this century commercial mass offset lithography replaced woodcuts as well as hand created stone and plate lithography. This framed woodcut depicts a scene of execution with bearded adult men and clean shaven youth. The frame is a later addition.

Firedog - Fire accessory - 20th c
Iron fire accessory which were used to hold torches, and could often act as spit holders.According to new provenance information provided by the Hon. Elizabeth Vereker, these were made up by a local blacksmith in the late 1950s.

Painting of Flemish Minstrel with helmet - Painting - 17th c
From ancient times the ‘fool’ was the attendant of noblemen. Traditional costume included a cap with ass’s ears or bells, and a sceptre. Jocus is the companion of Cupid, and Renaissance allegory likewise linked love and folly as the joint elements of youth.The Allegorical poem Das Narrenschiff (1494), by German poet Brant tells of a ship of fools who set sail for Narragonia, ‘fools paradise. Vehicle for satirical comment on contemporary folly, loose living and vice. Original edition illustrated with woodcuts of figures dressed in fool’s cap and bells. Taken up by other writers, such as Erasmus in his The Praise of Folly (1509), with engravings by Holbein completed by 1511. Popular subject as a result.

Flemish Oak cupboard - Cupboard - 16th c
A Large Oak Cupboard with two panelled doors each of eight panels, decorated with carved heads in medallions and conventional motifs. Romayne carving with a Flemish influence. Fitted with double strap hinges and two engraved steel locks. The central column contains the carved figure of Saint Peter holding the keys of the kingdom. The ends are of linenfold design panelling. It dates from the 16th century.

Arquebusse - Weapon - 17th c
A Large Wheel Lock swivel arquebusse with a carved walnut stock. German, 17th century. The gun is rifled and is a functional hunting gun. The gun is highly decorated with a wild boar’s head on the body of the gun. It is distinctive because of its weight, which is 56lbs or 25kg and the size of its calibre. Due to its mass and recoil, it was used in conjunction with a tripod or stand.

Gothic Oak cupboard - Cupboard - 15th c
A 15th century French style Oak Press cupboard, the upper door with linenfold decoration, the lower having plain panels. The strap hinges display Gothic type decoration.

Walnut joined box chair - Chair - 16th c
A High-backed walnut joined box chair, dated 1537, with linen fold panels. The back panelling of heavy oak plank construction is ornately carved and decorated with carving of leaves, fruit, and cupid. It also displays a coat of arms with lion supporters. It was clearly a status symbol and people would have stood in the presence of the occupant in the chair.

Refectory Table - Furniture - 16th c
A late sixteenth century Oak Refectory Table the massive single plank top supported by two square pillars on cruciform (Manx type) bases. Such tables were easily dismantled and were referred to as ‘boards’ in a contemporary sense.

Portrait of a young woman upon her betrothal - Painting - 17th c
This portrait is of an unknown woman on the announcement of her marriage. The dog, which the women pets and which in turn gazes up at her, is symbolic of loyalty in marriage, and was shown in such portraits of betrothed women. The portrait is not full length but only three-quarter length, which could represent a cheaper commission for the patron. Women had very few functions in society other than as a wife and mother, so it was difficult to represent them in a pose of activity. Placing them in a classical setting was one of the only options, creating images of goddesses. Their husbands, fathers and sons, in contrasts, could be shown as warriors, leaders or great statesmen.The style of this portrait is reminiscent of both Sir Godfrey Kneller (1649?-1723) and Sir Peter Leley (1618-80) working in the court of Charles II following his restoration. Anne Hyde, Duchess of York and sister-in-law to the King, commissioned Lely to provide her with a series known as The Windsor Beauties for the private apartments of the royal family. Lely revelled in the commission, producing informal three-quarter length images of women with alluringly soft skin, ringlets of hair that framed the face and attired in rich garments.The portrait at Bunratty is of the same form, but rather than being a pin-up of the King’s mistresses, it represents a much different image of womanhood.

Refectory Table - Furniture - 17th c
Uniform oak planked refectory table on vase shaped support, united by a central stretcher with a shelf underneath main table

Refectory Table - Furniture - 19th c
Reproduction oak refectory table

Lustreweibshen - Chandelier - 16th c
A Hanging Chandelier in the form of a painted wooden female torso, fitted with antlers on which are fastened six metal holders. An armorial shield is located below. Possibly a figurehead for a ship and of sixteenth century origin.

Fireback - Fire accessory - 20th c
A Reproduction Cast Iron Fire-Back. This conserved heat and could have been used to protect brick-work which was re-introduced in the sixteenth-century.

Painting of Henry 8th earl of Thomond - Painting - 18th c