April 13, 2005
Age of Armor sagas of steel
Dennos exhibit reception features Medieval music, food, dance
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Chivalry, honor, duty, bravery: an empty suit of armor brims with symbolism. Lore, folktales and history transform these utilitarian components of war into a brew of Medieval and Renaissance values.
The Dennos Museum debuted its Age of Armor exhibit Saturday night with a reception that drew more than 300 attendees for a walk into the ages.
The reception featured period music, food and a chance to browse the collection, which includes seven full suits of armor and 60 pieces in all. Grants from the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Oleson Foundation helped fund the exhibit.
Members of the Society for Creative Anachronism provided Medieval and Renaissance ambiance during the reception. Dressed in period costume, they circulated among the crowd while some members played instruments from those eras.
"It's wonderful, fabulous to have something like this in Traverse City because seeing really good armor is rare," said Heather Jankens-Milarch of Traverse City, president of the society. "Normally, you see pieces and parts so to see a full set is really great."
A concert followed the reception, featuring the Collegium Musicum from Western Michigan University. This group of college singers and musicians showcased the music, song and instruments from the era as well as demonstrated some dances.
Other objects in the Age of Armor collection include helmets, equine armor, which was a status symbol for wealthy knights, chain mail and chest plates. Examples of armor from Ancient Greece and the post-Renaissance are also displayed. The exhibit includes some paintings and sketches relating to armor, such as a centuries old, multi-step sketch on how to mount a horse while suited up.
Many of the pieces show marks from battles, where they deflected swords, lances or other weapons of the era. When firearms came into greater use during war after the 1600s, the Age of Armor began to decline.
"This is fantastic, it's really great for Traverse City," enthused Dan Nickels, owner of Black Rock Forge who will be demonstrating knife making in May at a Family Day event.
"They had different templates that they hammered this stuff out on,' he added, closely examining different pieces. "The craftsmanship for the time is wonderful, you kind of wonder how they did it."
Age of Armor is a traveling exhibit of the Higgins Armory Museum in Massachusetts, which is sending this portion of its collection to 17 cities in four years. The stop in Traverse City, where the exhibit will reside until late September, has already generated excitement and drawn new attendees into the museum.
"It is definitely bringing in lots of men and younger ones like high school age, it has really opened our eyes to a whole different market," said Kathleen Buday, curator of education and interpretation for the Dennos Museum. "I already have seen a lot of people wandering in during the week, which is somewhat unusual; mostly men, boys and also some women."
Buday noted that armor reflected not just the practical purposes of war, but also the artistic and aesthetic side of humanity. Detailed etching, embossing, painting and other decorations were included on the armor.
"What's interesting about the show from a standpoint of a museum is that like most manmade objects, armor was subject not only to technical developments but to changes in taste," she said. "Aesthetics and artistic expression did come into it."
The Dennos Museum will hold a Family Day, with a theme of Knights, Ladies & Chivalry, on Saturday, May 7, from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. The event will include fighting demonstrations, dancing, music, a knife-making demonstration, poetry recitations, lace making and the chance for kids to make their own heraldry. The Traverse Symphony Orchestra's Brass Quintet will have a concert at 11 a.m. that morning, featuring music of Knights and Ladies of the Court. For more information on these events, contact the museum at 995-1029 or online at www.dennosmuseum.org