Two plated sleeves of linen and crossbow twine lined with metal plates; England, 1575-90.

Two plated sleeves, made of two layers of linen, with narrow metal plates stitched in between with cross-bow twine. The top and bottom of the sleeves are bound with linen tape. There are worked eyelet at the bottom and top of the sleeves for fastening. The thread count of the right sleeve is 35 warp x 35 weft per inch. The thread count of the left sleeve is 39 warp x 38 weft per inch.

Bought with the assistance of the Farquharson Bequest, the Hildburgh Bequest and the Horn Bequest

These armoured sleeves and the plated jack (or jack-of-plate) acquired with them (T.48-2017) are extremely unusual examples of sixteenth-century, English clothing. They are not only not good examples of Elizabethan men's fashions but also, even more rarely, were designed for men of relatively low social rank.

The sleeves are not matching but are individual sleeves designed to be attached to a plated jack (an armoured doublet). They were designed to protect the arms of foot soldiers against swords and pikes in the heat of battle. Made of linen, the sleeves have multiple iron plates sewn into them using crossbow twine. The plates are of different shapes and have been sewn to allow mobility in the elbow joint. The longer, rectangular plates have been placed along the forearms where less movement is required. It is possible that the armourerd plates inside the sleeves were cut up from bits of old armour.

These sleeves can be dated to around 1575-90 partly by their style and construction but also because they were grouped with a plated jack of the same period when the V&A acquired them at auction. The jack and sleeves are fine examples of the sometimes indistinct line between military and civilian fashion towards the end of the 16th century. Their painstaking and labour-intensive construction might be more commonly associated with clothing for men of much higher social status.

The sleeves are considerably less hard-wearing than when they were new and the linen has deteriorated in places making them quite tricky to handle. Even so, given their age and utilitarian purpose, they have survived in remarkably good condition.

Although the early history of the sleeves is unknown, they have only changed ownership twice since around 1765. They were recorded in an eighteenth-century inventory of the collection of Sir William Farington (1704-81) of Shaw Hall (later Worden Hall), Lancashire, who had enlarged his house in 1742. It was later described as a 'large irregular stuccoed pile, containing a suite of apartments used as a museum stored with natural curiosities, busts, marbles ... paintings ... some of them frescoes found in the ruins of Herculaneum'. The jack and sleeves were also illustrated in a 1793 catalogue compiled by the antiquarian, Thomas Barritt (now in the Manchester City Library). They remained at Worden Hall until 1948 when they were sold to a private collector. It was from his collection that the V&A acquired them at auction in December 2016.

The connection between men's fashion, armour and military uniform is a narrative crucial to dress history but is frequently overlooked. This relationship is particularly important to sixteenth-century men's dress and armour. One of the key garments in the ensemble of fashionable men's dress was the doublet, which developed out of both the padded, protective clothing worn under metal armour and defensive garments like jacks and brigandines made of linen and reinforced with small iron plates. The doublet had no sleeves and was formed as a back and front piece sewn at the sides, rather like the composition of back- and breastplate on contemporary armour. Sleeves were added separately to create contrasting looks as desired.

Although humble in materials, theses sleeves were made in the same style as the most fashionable of men's garments. By the late sixteenth-century, the use of plated jacks and sleeves for lower-ranking military wear was declining, replaced by cheap metal breastplates which could be produced in large numbers much more quickly and fitt over buff leather coats.

These armoured sleeves and the plated jack (or jack-of-plate) acquired with them (T.48-2017) are extremely unusual examples of sixteenth-century, English clothing. They are not only not good examples of Elizabethan men's fashions but also, even more rarely, were designed for men of relatively low social rank.

The sleeves are not matching but are individual sleeves designed to be attached to a plated jack (an armoured doublet). They were designed to protect the arms of foot soldiers against swords and pikes in the heat of battle. Made of linen, the sleeves have multiple iron plates sewn into them using crossbow twine. These sleeves can be dated to around 1575-90 partly by their style and construction but also because they were grouped with a plated jack of the same period when the V&A acquired them at auction.

T.49:1,2-2017