A RARE FRENCH CAVALRY OFFICER'S CUIRASS, CIRCA 1750-80 of exceptional weight, comprising breastplate with medial ridge flanged outwards at the base, plain flanged turns at the neck and arm-openings, fitted with a stud for shoulder straps on each side of the chest, struck three times with the proof mark of a bullet, the backplate formed en suite and struck once with the proof mark of a bullet, decorated throughout with pairs of incised lines arranged in groups of two around the border, over the medial ridge on on each side of the torso, the borders fitted throughout with domed brass rivets, retaining its padded buff leather lining (small holes) 37cm; 14 5/8in high A cuirass of identical pattern is preserved in the Musée de l'Armée, Paris. See Christian Aries, Armes Blanches Militaires Français, Cuirass d'Officiers XVII-XVIII siècle, XIX I fascicule 1971, figs. 2 A-D. This cited example is attributed to the ownership of either Maréchal de France Victor Marie Marquis de Coeuvres et Duc d'Estrées (1660-1737), or alternatively to his nephew, Louis César le Tellier, Chevalier de Louvois (to whom the d'Estrées title passed in 1739). Le Tellier was born in 1695 and spent the majority of his career in the cavalry, most notably commanding the Royal Roussillon Régiment, into which he was commissioned in 1718. Aries notes that the cuirass matches this date exactly but that it appears to have been made for an older officer. A comparable breast-plate, also in the Musée de l'Armée, is again identical with the exception of minor variations in the linear engraving and the addition of belt mounts. This also retains a portion of the border fabric very similar to that of the present cuirass.