Adargas are a type of leather shield introduced into Spain from North Africa in the 13th century. A later form was then used in the New World by the Spanish. This example is made of three layers of hide stitched together with leather laces that create an abstract pattern. It is painted with a simplified rendering of the Spanish royal arms. Acquired by the Museum in 1913, it was thought to be a Spanish work of the 16th century. It has since been recognized as a work of the 18th century from northern New Spain (Mexico), in what is now the American Southwest.
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Title:Shield (Adarga)
Date:probably mid-18th century
Culture:Mexican
Medium:Leather, pigment
Dimensions:H. 19 1/4 in. (48.9 cm); W. 19 1/2 in. (49.5 cm); Wt. 2 lb. 11 oz. (1219 g)
Classification:Shields
Credit Line:Gift of William H. Riggs, 1913
Accession Number:14.25.752
William H. Riggs, Paris (until 1913; his gift to MMA).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Collecting the Arts of Mexico," July 17, 2015–2018.
Woodward, Arthur. California Leather Jackets of 1769 (1949), (similar adargas discussed).
Buttin, François, and Jāmiʻat Muḥammad al-Khāmis. "Les Adargues de Fès." Anciennes Armes Marocaines (1960), pp. 409–55.
Dufty, Arthur Richard, and William Reid. European Armour in the Tower of London. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1968. no. V.98, pl. 137, fig. d (a similar adarga).
Faulk, Odie B. The Leather Jacket Soldier: Spanish Military Equipment and Institutions of the Late 18th Century. Pasadena, Calif.: Socio-Technical Publications, 1971. pp. 59–61 (similar adargas).
Time-Life Books. The Spanish West. The Old West. New York: Time-Life Books, 1976. p. 24.
Wright, Barton. "Pueblo Shields." American Indian Art Magazine (1992), pp. 44–51, figs. 3–4 (similar adargas discussed and illustrated).
Nickel, Helmut, William Reid, Ian Eaves, Mario Scalini, Claude Gaier, Álvaro Soler Del Campo, Jean-Pierre Reverseau, Jan Piet Pyupe, Donald J. La Rocca, Jeffrey Forgeng, Jonathan Tavares, Dirk H. Breiding, Pierre Terjanian, and Ronald S. Lauder. The Armorer's Art: Essays in Honor of Stuart Pyhrr, edited by Donald J. La Rocca. Woonsocket, Rhode Island: Andrew Mowbray Inc. – Publishers, 2014. pp. 13–24, figs. 1, 2.
Nickel, Helmut. "About the Adarga: A Shield of Two Faiths, Three Continents, Four Cultures and Seven Centuries." In The Armorer's Art: Essays in Honor of Stuart Pyhrr. Woonsocket, Rhode Island: Andrew Mowbray Inc. – Publishers, 2014. pp. 13–24, figs. 1, 2.
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