Higgins Armory visit (08-01-2013)

C

Chris Meyer

Joined
Aug 15, 2005
Messages
1,297
Greetings everyone,

My kids and I took another trip to the Higgins Armory in Worchester, MA today (08-01-2013). In case anyone is interested, the Armory will be closing for good on 12-31-2013. They will be moving all of their stuff to the Worchester Art Museum, but I have no idea what will end up back on display.

They still have lots of neat arms and armor on display at the Higgins, so here are some of my pictures:

This is the museum from the outside (an old picture I had)


This is the great hall, which is actually on the third floor





A lot of the pieces are in glass displays, which really screw up flash photography. Since you need special permission to bring in a tripod, I just did the best I could.

Here is a really cool looking Islamic sword. The sign said it was a Zulfigar, which apparently means “split-blade sword”.




​


And this sword is expandable. It has a tab to push, just above the guard. Sorry about the lousy picture of the tip of the sword, but I only managed to get it in one shot.




​
 
Last edited:
The neat sword with the big teeth was listed as an Italian Boarding Sword from the 1500’s.



This is a giant folding sword. The sign said it was Italian form the 1500’s



I believe these are called Claymores. The tip on this seemed unusual to me, almost like some Roman swords (another lousy photo)





Here are some more swords, in no particular order. I tried to get close ups on the hilts, in case someone wants to try to recreate one or more of these.






​
 
And some more swords.






















They also had lots of pole arms. I'll add some pictures of those, if anyone is interested.
​
 
That's all kinds of cool! Some very funky designs that I'd never even heard of. Thanks!
 
Thanks for posting! Great photo tour...I'm only an hour away and should make the trip before they close.
 
Chris Meyer said:
This is a giant folding sword. The sign said it was Italian form the 1500’s
Click to expand...

I believe that's a partisan made for a palace guard. We have a similar one at the Castlerock Arms & Armor Museum where I volunteer. They fold to get through the hallways. Probably originally had a bit longer haft; they were frequently cut down to fit in collections.

Chris Meyer said:
I believe these are called Claymores. The tip on this seemed unusual to me, almost like some Roman swords (another lousy photo)


Click to expand...

I would term that a Bidenhander or Doppelhander. A Claymore is a more Scottish sword, and these look German to me. The Claymore is frequently a bit smaller than a Bidenhander as well.
 
Thanks for sharing the photos. I heard that the Higgins was closing down just recently myself. Unfortunately, I am unlikely to be able to make one last pilgrimage there, so these photos are the next best thing. It was fascinating going through the collection and see swords and armor from a different perspective. Higgins was a steel magnate and as such wasn't interested in weapons per se but rather was fascinated with iron and steel being made into weapons, hence his fascination with the steel gadgetry and gimmicks of the arms and armor world.
 
It appears like they have pulled a lot of items out of the safe for a final display and what you see may well reflect what turns up displayed at the WAM (god knows that place needs an infusion). There was an auction earlier this year that winnowed out a lot of the excess duplicates and items less than the main focus of arms and armour themselves.

I was 15 minutes away for the past 15 years but recently moved quietly away from major metro centers. It is a great building and worth exploring just on that term. Shamefully and after many years of membership, I rarely got over there aside from new exhibition openings.

The WAM is more centrally located to downtown Worcester and walking distance from the train station. Financially, it was a great move and it is as much a merge with WAM as simply giving up and selling everything. Not that it was really hard to find the current building, it was a bit off the beaten path and modern society after the 1970s pretty much forgot all about it except for school trips and die hards. Worcester is in the midst of yet another revitalizing project and the move to the WAM for the Higgins will be recognized in that history. The WAM is one block adjacent to RTE9 and the courthouse. That is an uphill walk from the train station across downtown but there are buses as well.

Cheers

GC
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top