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Artist Biography:
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Sir Samuel Rush Meyrick [1783 - 1848], son of John Meyrick , of Westminster and Fulham , and Hannah , daughter and co-heiress of Samuel Rush . He was educated at Queen's College, and practiced for many years as an advocate in the ecclesiastical and admiralty courts, living during this time in London, where he accumulated a magnificent collection of armor, a subject on which he was consulted by the authorities of the Tower of London and by King George IV. He is known as the founding father of the systematic study of arms and armor.
His work on arms and armor had been published in three quarto volumes in 1824 - A Critical Inquiry into Ancient Armor as it existed in Europe, particularly in England, from the Norman Conquest to the Reign of King Charles II; a second edition was published twenty years later. A work containing Engraved Illustrations of Ancient Arms and Armor, from the Collection at Goodrich Court was published in 1830.
In 1869 Meyrick exhibited the collection at what is now the Victoria and Albert museum. After offering it to British Government, Meyrick disposed of the collection to a number of purchasers, as well as donating objects to the British museum. Many of the important items in Meyrick's collection were purchased by the antiquarian, Augustus Wollaston Franks, who later donated them to the British Museum. Some of the best pieces of his collection can also be found in the Wallace Collection in London.
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