Category:Battle of Morat, flat lead figures (Heinrichsen of Nuremburg)

Exhibit
Battle of Morat, flat lead figures (Heinrichsen of Nuremburg) (i)
location:
Arch Four , Area 36 Lead figures (display)

Part of the "Battle of Morat" display [image info]

Heinrichsen "Battle of Morat" set. The set probably contained some trees and vegetation, but we're not sure which additional pieces might belong [image info]

A large set of painted German "Nuremberg scale" (~3cm) flat lead figures produced by E. Heinrichsen of Nuremburg to commemorate the Battle of Morat (also known as the Battle of Murten).

Display

The figures are distributed across a well-lit glass shelf in Arch Four.

Identification

Identification was made somewhat easier by the fact that the figures were still in their original box, with a label giving the set title ("Bataille de Morat" / "22 June 1476") and maker details "E. Heinrichsen in Nürnburg". The label also displays the image of a medal awarded to the company in 1882, so the set presumably won't be any earlier than this.

The Battle of Morat

The Battle of Morat was fought at the village of Morat (Ge: Murten), Switzerland (alongside Lake Morat) on 22 June 1476. The protagonists were Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, and the Swiss. The result was an overwhelming and brutal destruction of the Burgundian forces by the Swiss, with an estimated 10,000 members of the Burgundian forces wiped out.

The battle's anniversary is celebrated every year in Morat, and the conflict was also made the subject of a massive ~ten-metre by hundred-metre panoramic painting by the panoramicist Louis Braun in 1893. The painting was unable to be displayed for most of the Twentieth Century due to its size, but was displayed in 2002 in a special cube-shaped building on Lake Morat, designed by architect Jean Nouvel, the Morat Monolith.

Contents

• Original cardboard box with lid and written description of contents on piece of paper.

Comprising 65 items:

• 4 × soldiers with firing handguns
• 3 × soldiers with loaded handguns
• 3 × soldiers loading handguns
• 6 × standing soldiers firing crossbows
• 2 × soldiers spanning crossbows
• 3 × kneeling soldiers firing crossbows
• 3 × soldiers with maces held aloft wearing red skirted silver armour
• 4 × soldiers wielding poleaxes
• 2 × swordsmen in motion
• 2 × red standard bearers
• 1 × hornsman,
• 3 × soldiers with halberds on shoulders
• 3 × soldiers with end of halberds resting on ground
• 2 × running soldiers with 'holy water sprinkler' guns
• 3 × standing soldiers with handguns
• 1 × soldier lying dead
• 3 × skirmishing soldiers
• 1 × sitting up injured soldier
• 1 × injured soldier in red with arm aloft
• 1 × pile of cannon balls
• 1 × mounted knight with lance
• 1 × mounted knight in yellow with red bridled horse
• 2 × mounted knights wielding swords in melee
• 1 × mounted knight in melee with 2 soldiers on ground and fallen horse
• 1 × blue and red stripe standard bearer
• 2 × soldiers with maces held behind shoulders
• 2 × soldiers with morning stars
• 1 × attacking soldier in blue tunic wielding sword
• 1 × unidentified piece

External links

• Battle of Morat (wikipedia.org)

• Monolith (architectuul.com)