About Nigel Carren

The Journey from Collector to Armour Restorer

Like most people who have tried to build a collection of genuine armour from scratch, and found it almost impossible, we are forced to look to the reproduction market.

The replicas I had bought in the past were ok at a glance, but there was always something about them that was obviously wrong, such as helmets that had circular not oval bowls, meaning that I was only able to display them from the side, some of them even had visible welds and articulation that just didn’t work, meaning they would never warrant close inspection, I felt I could do a lot better.

I had worked as a lighting consultant and period lighting restorer for many years. The consultancy side of this business took me all over Europe working for the large fashion and cosmetic houses, and the restoration side was thankfully much closer to heart and home. Much of this work was within the surrounding three counties, working for both The National Trust and private estates.

Being a restorer meant that I already had a workshop with forge, full of metalworking and blacksmith tools, some of which are over three hundred years old, all of which had taken decades to find. With the genuine pieces I already had in my collection, and the genuine pieces I could at least lay my hands on, I knew exactly how high the standard was. Fortunately, my consultancy had already taught me to obsess about the details, as these clients were certainly the most difficult to please professionals I have ever worked with. This, I relished, as I have always felt that working to an exceptionally high standard should be the norm.

In the beginning, I started making armour for myself, reproducing all of the pieces I have missed at auctions over the years, starting out with English civil war Pikeman’s pots then graduating to French Cuirassier armour.

Miniature Armour, Massive Passion

Before I would start cutting out the steel for a full-size armour, to save steel and time, I would first perfect the pattern by crafting a fully articulated steel miniature.

It was one of these miniatures that would change everything. I had been begging a collector for years to let me have a look at his magnificent private collection, I had taken one of my miniatures with me as I wanted to check its scale against one particular full-size period armour he had, as I was sure that I had made the legs too small.

However, no sooner had I taken my miniature out of my bag, I was commissioned to make another, only in a different style. No sooner had I delivered this, I was asked to make a study in miniature of another armour which was part of somebody else’s collection, then I was asked to make a pair of matching boy prince armours in an Austrian style for beside a hall fireplace, then I had to re-leather a lovely pair of Prussian Pauldrons, and it went on and on. As the year went by, I was having so much fun, I hadn’t even noticed, my passion had seamlessly become my business.

Reproducing and restoring armour, has now thankfully completely overtaken my lighting consultancy. I still get involved with the odd period lighting restoration project from time to time and many other ‘interesting’ old metal objects besides, and sometimes the two go nicely hand in hand, especially when the armour I supply is for decoration. But aside from that, my usual working day is spent reproducing and restoring plate armour for decorators, dealers, and collectors.