AMAZING work by Robert MacPherson - but it's not armor

[Sir Martyn]

James, how much would harnesses like those two Mac customs run?

[Sir James A]

James, how much would harnesses like those two Mac customs run?

Complete guess, but I'd say $25k-$30k when he made them back in the mid/late 90s. Today's prices, $35k for the black/brass and $40k for the KD Garniture one? I can ask him and see if he'd tell me what they cost, as he hasn't made armor for a few years and last I spoke with him, he is not going to make it again either.

[Ian]

To put it in perspective, we're actually getting off very cheap now-a-days believe it or not!  A top of the line jousting harness runs about $30,000 now.  In period, the purchase of armor was roughly equivalent in magnitude in today's terms to buying a house!

[Sir James A]

As Sir Ian said, we're still getting off "cheap" compared to our ancestors. Unfortunately we don't have the (legal) ransom income capabilities of their day either.

I'm basing my pricing roughly around current pricing by Jeffrey Hedgecock / Historic Enterprises pricing, as I feel he is in the same skill level as Wasson and MacPherson.

http://historicenterprises.com/arms-and-armour-c-101/armour-custom-work-c-101_133/armour-full-italian-milanese-circa-1470-p-574.html

http://historicenterprises.com/arms-and-armour-c-101/armour-custom-work-c-101_133/armour-full-italoflemish-circa-1471-p-575.html

http://historicenterprises.com/arms-and-armour-c-101/armour-custom-work-c-101_133/armour-full-german-circa-1470-p-573.html

http://historicenterprises.com/arms-and-armour-c-101/armour-custom-work-c-101_133/armour-full-german-circa-1480-p-1126.html

[scott2978]

The Black and Brass harness sold at auction back in 2006 with a starting minimum bid of 30,000 euros... that's about $42,000 today.

[Ian]

The Black and Brass harness sold at auction back in 2006 with a starting minimum bid of 30,000 euros... that's about $42,000 today.

That harness is just something special...  There's lots of really nice harnesses out there, but that one in particular had a certain magic about it.  I really hope that the removal of the blackening is just a nasty unconfirmed rumor.

[Sir James A]

The Black and Brass harness sold at auction back in 2006 with a starting minimum bid of 30,000 euros... that's about $42,000 today.

That harness is just something special...  There's lots of really nice harnesses out there, but that one in particular had a certain magic about it.  I really hope that the removal of the blackening is just a nasty unconfirmed rumor.

I was trying to find where I saw it posted that Capwell had sold the armor and that the new owner held it privately and removed the blackening. No luck in my bookmarks so far.