Thomas Gwennap’s “Oplotheca”

This image depicts the interior of Thomas Gwennap’s “Oplotheca” (derived from the Greek term hoplothêkê, meaning armory) at no. 20, Lower Brook St., London, as it was arranged in 1816. On the left side of the image, along the wall, stand three full suits of armor, flanked by two armored equestrians. The nearest of these is fitted out for jousting, while the other, at the far end, is “the very curious and beautiful Cuirass of Scale Armour, secretly worn by Buonaparte in his expedition to Egypt” (Catalogue viii). This historically significant piece was contributed (along with some other items in the collection) by William Bullock; both sets of equestrian armor would be acquired by Samuel Rush Meyrick, and later, the Wallace Collection (Duffy 287). Displayed on the walls are “the most interesting detached pieces, [such] as helmets, shields, curious guns, pistols, swords, &c. &c,” as well as “a French Cuirass, Carbine, &c. taken at the glorious Battle of Waterloo” (Catalogue viii-x). 

At the far end of the room, in a separate alcove theatrically framed by a curtain, stands an additional set of equestrian armor. The right corner of the main room, on the far side, is occupied by a single cabinet, while the remainder of the right-hand wall is taken up by floor-to-ceiling glass cabinets (this could be what is described in the catalog as the “Case of Fire Arms, of exquisite workmanship” (Catalogue viii). The visitors depicted in this hand-colored etching/aquatint consist of a man in the left-foreground who holds a book, possibly the Oplotheca’s catalog, and gestures towards the objects in the glass cabinets across from him; two women—one seated, one standing—in the middle of the room; a kneeling man who inspects the glass cabinets in the far right corner of the image; and two more women who gesture before the equestrian display in the alcove. In contrast to the focused attention of the male visitors, the paired female figures appear engaged in conversation, their body language suggesting curiosity, but also a degree of detachment and perplexity.  

Gwenapp was one of the most prominent collectors and exhibitors of ancient armor in early nineteenth-century London. He sought out pieces that he believed represented “the state of offensive and defensive arms in the earliest stages of society, [such as] a very interesting and beautiful variety of War-clubs, Bows, Arrows, Spears, Shields, and other implements used by the natives of Africa, America, and the Pacific Ocean” (Catalogue ix). Moreover, the catalog notes that “no regular system has been observed in arranging either the complete suits, or the numerous detached pieces, in the glass cases, according to their respective dates, or the nations to which they belong” (ix, emphasis added). In other words, Gwennap displayed foreign weapons and armor alongside European tools of warfare, thus avoiding the common Eurocentric practice of segregating “exotic” or “primitive” artifacts from the “main” collection.  

Nevertheless, European armor from the Medieval era was of particular interest to visitors. The Romantic period witnessed a revival of interest in Gothic and Medieval-era objects and aesthetics, amply illustrated by Walter Scott’s renovations and collections at Abbotsford (which included a purpose-built armory). The items sought after by such collectors were often connected to important figures, battles, or specific moments in time, and thus possessed singular historical resonance. The market for them was increasingly brisk as viewers became buyers, keen to display such pieces in their own homes. In fact, Gwennap’s displays generated as much demand as they did curiosity, a fact he capitalized on when he later sold his pieces at auction. His popular exhibitions, which he also mounted at the ‘Gothic Hall’ in Pall Mall into the 1820s, thus came at a time when “the presence and the part played by the dealer in the exhibition culture of the nineteenth century was highly significant” (Westgarth 19). 

It was important for his status as a collector, as it was for his credibility as a dealer, that his pieces be truly authentic examples of historical armament. Gwennap bolstered his own cultural capital by criticizing collections that falsely claimed to contain “genuine” Medieval armor, such as those on display at the Tower of London. The Oplotheca’s catalog asserts that, “[i]n the Tower of London there is not any suit older than the time of Henry VII, so that the public have been, and still continue to be misled by the stories of the warders, who attribute to John of Gaunt, De Courcy, and others, Armour that was not made until two or three centuries after the time in which they lived” (Catalogue v). In fact, when Samuel Meyrick, the preeminent collector of arms and armor in the period, was brought in to rearrange the Tower’s collection, he did find East-Asian suits of armor falsely identified as Medieval Crusaders’ armor and was put under pressure to attribute every suit to a notable person despite its provenance (Altick 439).  

Meyrick’s own extensive collection of armor, displayed first at his house in London and later at Goodrich Court in Herefordshire, demonstrates that Gwennap was not unusual in his interests (Mercer 5). In fact, both Bullock and Lever had respectable collections of armor in their museums (and even more modest collections, such as Greene’s, proudly contained such items). However, the Oplotheca was unique in focusing entirely on the study and display of armaments, as this aquatint reveals: it depicts the collection in such a way as to emphasize not only the presence, but also the variety, significance, and authenticity of its artifacts. At the same time, though, it served to promote a specific exhibition, “now open for public inspection,” as proclaimed by the inscription that accompanied the 1816 publication of the aquatint. This was a display orchestrated jointly by Gwennap and Bullock that was regarded as the “most important of Gwenapp’s ancient armor exhibitions” (Westgarth 19). 

One of the most novel items in the exhibition was Napoleon Buonaparte’s equestrian armor, noted above. Other noteworthy items sourced by Gwennap and described in the catalog included  

those fine suits of Plate Armour, chiefly royal, and of polished steel, which were obtained from the King of Bavaria’s Armoury at Munich… these suits, though but a small part of the collection, are rendered principal objects of attraction by their beautiful workmanship, and the very fine specimens of Horse Armour belonging to them, as well as by the grand suit of the renowned Albert, one of the Electors of Bavaria (Catalogue ix-x).  

Because the creation of the image coincided with and publicized this remarkable 1816 display, pieces described by the catalog are depicted in the image, and vice versa. The catalog and the aquatint thus work in tandem, both referring to the collection as the “finest Collection of Antient [sic] Armour in Europe” (x).