DepartmentHispano

Conquistador helmet

NameHelmet

Artist or maker Robert E. Woodman

CultureSpanish

Dateca. 1935

Place madeSanta Fe, New Mexico, United States, North America

Mediummetal

DimensionsOverall: 8 13/16 x 12 3/16 in. (22.4 x 31 cm)

Credit LineIn Memory of robert E. Woodman by d'Anne Lemke and family.

Object numberFA.1984.348.3

Collections

DescriptionRobert Woodman's interpretation of a Spanish conquistador helmet, custom-made for Los Cabelleros del Fiesta de Santa Fe. Cut by hand, embossed with hammered stamps /dies, and soldered together terneplate circa 1930s. Pointed oblong shape with high, hammered crown with a slightly turned-down brim. Used in Santa Fe Fiesta - Mrs. Lemke.

Robert Woodman was the most important tinsmith of the revival of tinwork in the 1930s. He was trained as an engineer, and prolifically produced tinwork up until the early 1970s. Woodman frequently collaboraed with the architect John Gaw Meem. Meem would give Woodman his architectural drawings of tinwork designs, and Woodman would execute them. One of their most famous collaborations is the giant tin chandelier in the West Wing of Zimmerman Library at UNM. Maurice Dixon handled Woodman's estate - check the accession files for items Dixon donated for more informaiton. - Carla Gilfillan