From the State Archives of Innsbruck (Jahrbuch II, reg. 1028) we find that two cuirasses were ready for the King of England, one gilded. There were apparently five others to be made, one of which was to be silvered. This was probably the suit above mentioned.
The whole of the suit is covered with fine engraving representing the stories of S. George and S. Barbara, with foliage and heraldic badges. The designs have been engraved and a detailed description given by Sir S. Meyrick in _Archæologia_, XXII.
The horse-armour is not by the same hand, for the engraving is coarser. It may have been executed in England by German craftsmen to match the rider’s armour (see Plates X, XII, Fig. 67).
There were ceaseless troubles over the payment and delivery of work from the royal workshop. Sometimes Seusenhofer would retain work for which the Emperor had pressing need till payment was made, and on one occasion, when speedy delivery was not made, Maximilian ordered the armourers to be placed in the forefront of the battle, with no armour on, to show them what inconvenience their delay was causing! It is needless to say that the armour was delivered at once. So obsessed with the idea of his omniscience was the Emperor that when, in the _Weisz Künig_, Seusenhofer suggests some secret method of working the metal, he replies: “Arm me according to my own wishes, for it is I and not you who will take part in the tournament.” Again, Maximilian writes: “If you have forgotten the art which I have taught you let me know and I will instruct you again.”
The date of Conrad’s death is unknown, but it was, as far as can be ascertained, about the year 1517.
He was succeeded as Court Armourer by his younger brother Hans, and he in turn gave place to his nephew Jorg, who produced the suits which exist at the present day in Paris, G, 41, 117; Vienna, 283, 407. The only authentic work of Conrad is in the Tower of London, II, 5.
[Sidenote: _Jacob Topf_, Innsbruck, 1530-90.]
We have but little information respecting Topf, in spite of the minute researches of the late Dr. Wendelin Boeheim. From civic records at Innsbruck he appears to have been one of three brothers. David, the youngest, was in service with Archduke Ferdinand at Ambras and died in 1594. In 1575 we find Jacob working for the Archduke at Innsbruck. Boeheim discovered in his investigations that Topf was absent from Germany between the years 1562 and 1575 and was probably employed in Italy, England, and elsewhere. There are no records of his employment in England except in a letter written by Sir Henry Lee in 1590, where mention is made of “Master Jacobe,”[145] who is now considered to be Topf. We have, however, a most valuable record of work which was in all probability his in the _Almain Armourer’s Album_, now in the Art Library of the Victoria and Albert Museum.