3-074-896 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Sketches in the Armoury and Museum of the Tower of London, 1883. 'Queen Elizabeth & page; James II; Model of a Tournament; Some groups in the Horse Armoury; Poleaxe; Model of Rack; Thumbscrew; Bilboes; Sinking Chains; Scavenger's Daughter; Iron Collar; Block, Axe and Mask...[In] the Horse Armoury...are ranged twenty-two life-sized equestrian figures, attired in real suits of knightly armour...In another place is the figure of Queen Elizabeth, on horseback, in the robes she wore at one of her sumptuous visits to the City of London. This is represented among the subjects of our Sketches, as well as that of King James II., attired in a steel corslet and a long full-bottomed black wig...On the side tables are laid a few examples of the horrible instruments of torture, thumb-screws, iron collars, and fetters, with a small model of the rack, employed by the wisdom and humanity of our ancestors for the judicial discovery of truth. The executioner's block and axe, and the mask with which he veiled his face, are here preserved for the edification of an age which is content with the use of gallows and rope...The popular taste for whatever is splendid, and for whatever is horrid, may be freely indulged at the Tower'. From "Illustrated London News", 1883.