Bashford Dean

Bashford Dean (October 28, 1867 – December 6,

1928) was an American zoologist, specializing in Bashford Dean
ichthyology, and at the same time an expert in
medieval and modern armor. He is the only person to
have held concurrent positions at the American
Museum of Natural History and the Metropolitan
Museum of Art, where he was Honorary Curator of
Arms and Armor; the Metropolitan Museum purchased
his collection of arms and armor after his death.

Early life and education

Bashford Dean was born on October 28, 1867[1] in
New York City. His father was a prosperous lawyer
from Westchester County.[2] According to his sister
Harriet Martine Dean, his interest in armour began at Bashford Dean
age six, when he "spent hours examining a helmet"[3] Born October 28, 1867
while visiting the collection of the estate of the late New York City, US
Carlton Gates in Yonkers (d. 1869),[4] a family Died December 6, 1928 (aged 61)
acquaintance, whose holdings included Asian and Battle Creek, Michigan, US
Medieval arms and weaponry. in 1876, aged about Nationality American
nine, he tried to buy the helmet but was outbid.[3] In
Education City College of New York
1877, at age 10, he purchased two 16th century
daggers from the collection of Henry Cogniat and Alma mater Columbia University (Ph.D.)
started his personal collection.[3] Known for fossil fishes (sharks,
chimaeroids and arthrodires)
In 1881, he entered the College of the City of New
Spouse(s) Mary Alice Dean, née Dyckman
York at only 14 years of age and graduated in 1886;[3]
He enrolled in zoology and palaeontology at Columbia Awards Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal from

University, and received his Ph.D in 1890.[3] the National Academy of

Sciences, 1921.
Scientific career
Career Fields ichthyology, and medieval and
modern armor
Dean became an assistant for Professor John Strong
Institutions American Museum of Natural
Newberry who studied Devonian armored fishes. From History and Metropolitan
the 1880s to the early 1900s, his scientific research Museum of Art
allowed him to travel to Europe, Russia, Alaska, Japan,
Doctoral John Strong Newberry
and the Pacific coast of the United States. He became
advisor
professor of zoology in 1904.[3]
In 1909, Dean published "Studies on fossil fishes (sharks, chimaeroids and arthrodires)", published in
Memoirs of the American Museum of Natural History [5] and other articles on the Arthroleptid frog
Astylosternus robustus and on the egg capsules of Chimaera.

For his 1916 volume, Bibliography of Fishes,[6] Dean was awarded the Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal from
the National Academy of Sciences in 1921.[7]

Armor collection and studies

As his career in ichthyology progressed, his focus eventually shifted toward the subject of armor[8] and
by 1900 he had amassed a private collection of approximately 125 armory specimens.[3] In 1904, Dean
initiated the process of establishing the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Department of Arms and Armor,
serving first as guest curator while organizing the collection of Duc de Dino, quickly progressing to the
position of honorary curator in 1906 and finally to the position of founding curator on October 28, 1912,
then working for the Met full-time.[9]

During World War I, Dean was commissioned a Major in the Ordnance Corps, and worked on
development of armor, especially of helmets.[10]: n12 His work guided and informed helmet development
in the US, and possibly in other countries, at least until the 1980s,[11] although his preferred design was
rejected in 1918[10]: 216 and c. 1937,[11] as its resemblance to the German Stahlhelm was considered too
close.[10]: 216 He was the author of Helmets and Body Armor in Modern Warfare.[12] Dean wrote the 1929
published Catalogue of European Court Swords and Hunting Swords: Including the Ellis, De Dino and
Reubell Collections.[13]

Private life, death

In 1927, Dean retired from the Metropolitan Museum and
embarked on the addition of an armor hall to his home at Wave
Hill.[1]

Dean was involved in architectural preservation in that he and his

brother in law, Alexander M. Welch restored their wives' ancestral
home, the Dyckman House.[14]

After undergoing surgery, he unexpectedly died on December 6,

1928, in Battle Creek, Michigan,[15] missing, only the day before
his death, the opening of the "Hall of Fishes", his crowning work
at the American Museum of Natural History.[16]

Posthumously
Armor hall, at home in Riverdale
Following his death, his friends and family completed
construction of the armor hall at his home and installed his private
collection there. The Metropolitan Museum later became home to about half of his armor collection of
800 items through an outright bequest and through purchases made possible by gifts by friends and
trustees of the museum, which his friend Daniel Chester French commemorated with a plaque.
In 2012, the Metropolitan Museum of Art celebrated the centennial of the founding of its Armory
collection, and organized the special exhibition Bashford Dean and the Creation of the Arms and Armor
Department.[17]

References
1. La Rocca, Donald (2012-10-28), "Bashford Dean and the Creation of the Arms and Armor
Department" (http://www.metmuseum.org/metmedia/video/collections/aa/bashford-dean),
Sunday at the Met (video), New York, New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, retrieved
2013-02-12, "As part of a special Sunday at the Met program held in conjunction with the
exhibition Bashford Dean and the Creation of the Arms and Armor Department, Donald J. La
Rocca explains the founding and history of the department."
2. Boorman, Dean K. "A Personal Reminiscence of Bashford Dean, and His Unpublished Talk,
Circa 1920, "The Hobby of Collecting Ancient Armor" " (https://americansocietyofarmscollect
ors.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/1994-B70-A-Personal-Reminiscence-of-Bashford-Dea
n.pdf) (PDF). American Society of Arms Collectors. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20
211228212755/https://americansocietyofarmscollectors.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/19
94-B70-A-Personal-Reminiscence-of-Bashford-Dean.pdf) (PDF) from the original on 2021-
12-28.
3. La Rocca, Donald J. (2014-03-04). "A Look at the Life of Bashford Dean" (http://www.metmu
seum.org/about-the-museum/now-at-the-met/2014/life-of-bashford-dean). Now at the Met.
Metropolitan Museum of Art. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20140615222916/http://
www.metmuseum.org/about-the-museum/now-at-the-met/2014/life-of-bashford-dean) from
the original on 2014-06-15. Retrieved 2014-06-15. "When the department was officially
created on October 28, 1912, it was almost entirely due to the talent, scholarship, and
tireless drive of Dr. Bashford Dean (1867–1928), the department's founding curator."
4. Surrogate's Court, Westchester County, New York (1870). Van Pelt, Reuben W. (ed.). Cover
of: In the matter of proving the last will and testament of Carlton Gates, deceased: Argument
by In the matter of proving the last will and testament of Carlton Gates, deceased: Argument
(https://archive.org/details/inmatterproving00peltgoog). New York, New York: William J.
Read, Steam Job Printer. p. 8. Retrieved 2014-06-15. "...Carlton Gates, late of the Town of
Yonkers, in said County, departed this life, in the said County, on the 2lst day of August, in
the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine..."
5. Dean, Bashford (1909). "Studies on fossil fishes (sharks, chimaeroids and arthrodires)".
Memoirs of the American Museum of Natural History. 9 (5). hdl:2246/57 (https://hdl.handle.n
et/2246%2F57). "The Devonian Sharks known generally as "Cladodonts" and technically as
Cladoselachians, i.e., a particular group of Cladodontid sharks, have, during the past
decade, figured prominently in studies on the morphology of fishes."
6. Dean, Bashford (1916). Charles Rochester Eastman (ed.). A Bibliography of Fishes (https://
archive.org/details/bibliographyoffi01dean). Vol. 1. New York, New York: The Museum.
Retrieved 2013-02-11.
7. "Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal" (https://web.archive.org/web/20140620152242/http://www.naso
nline.org/about-nas/awards/daniel-giraud-elliot-medal.html). National Academy of Sciences.
Archived from the original (http://www.nasonline.org/about-nas/awards/daniel-giraud-elliot-m
edal.html) on 2014-06-20. Retrieved 2013-02-11.
 8. La Rocca, Donald J. (2014-04-08). "Bashford Dean and Japanese Arms and Armor" (http://
www.metmuseum.org/about-the-museum/now-at-the-met/2014/bashford-dean-and-japanes
e-arms-and-armor). Now at the Met. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Archived (https://web.archi
ve.org/web/20140615222208/http://www.metmuseum.org/about-the-museum/now-at-the-me
t/2014/bashford-dean-and-japanese-arms-and-armor) from the original on 2014-06-15.
Retrieved 2014-06-15. "Dean personally designed and installed the display of the collection
at the Museum and wrote an accompanying catalogue, which was the most detailed
English-language book on the subject at the time. It remains a valuable scholarly
introduction to the material more than a century later."
9. McGrath, Charles (2012-10-04). "Dressed to Kill, From Head to Toe — Met Show Recalls
Bashford Dean, Armor Curator" (https://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/05/arts/design/met-show
-recalls-bashford-dean-armor-curator.html). New York Times. Archived (https://web.archive.o
rg/web/20121010012255/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/05/arts/design/met-show-recalls-
bashford-dean-armor-curator.html?_r=0) from the original on 2012-10-10. Retrieved
2014-06-15. "In many ways the most outstanding piece of work on display here is Bashford
Dean himself. Dean (1867-1928) was one of those tireless and eccentric polymaths that the
19th century turned out in such profusion."
10. Dean, Bashford (1920). Helmets and Body Armor in Modern Warfare (https://archive.org/det
ails/helmetsbodyarmor00deanuoft). New Haven: Yale University Press. Open Library:
OL7179363M. Retrieved 2015-04-09. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
11. Suciu, Peter (2011-11-30). "American experimental helmets from WWI" (http://www.militarytr
ader.com/military-trader-news/american-experimental-helmets-from-wwi). Military Trader.
F+W. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20140709135208/http://www.militarytrader.com/
military-trader-news/american-experimental-helmets-from-wwi) from the original on 2014-
07-09. Retrieved 2015-04-09. "While many people were instrumental in developing a series
of helmets, one individual stood out, who guided the process in these early years: Dr.
Bashford Dean. Thanks to Dr. Dean's research and his efforts to chronicle the helmets,
much is actually known about these American "experimentals." "
12. Franklin, Dwight (27 August 1920). "Review: Helmets and Body Armor in Modern Warfare by
Bashford Dean" (https://zenodo.org/record/1448257). Science. 52 (1339): 201–202.
doi:10.1126/science.52.1339.201-a (https://doi.org/10.1126%2Fscience.52.1339.201-a).
13. Dean, Bashford (1929). Catalogue of European Court Swords and Hunting Swords:
Including the Ellis, De Dino, Riggs, and Reubell Collections (Spine title: Court Swords and
Hunting Swords) (https://books.google.com/books?id=8R9oQgAACAAJ). Metropolitan
Museum of Art. Retrieved 2013-02-11.
14. "Dyckman Farmhouse Museum" (http://historichousetrust.org/house/dyckman-farmhouse-m
useum/). Historic House Trust. 2014-10-01. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20150703
033247/http://historichousetrust.org/house/dyckman-farmhouse-museum/) from the original
on 2015-07-03. Retrieved 2017-10-25. "In 1915, Mary Alice Dyckman Dean and Fannie
Fredericka Dyckman Welch, daughters of the last Dyckman to grow up in the house, bought
the building and worked with their husbands, curator Bashford Dean and architect Alexander
McMillan Welch, to restore it."
15. "Bashford Dean Dies After Operation" (https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=F70
C17F73855167A93CAA91789D95F4C8285F9). The New York Times. 1928-12-08. p. 15.
Retrieved 2013-02-12. "Noted Zoologist Was Also the Leading American Expert on Ancient
Armor. A TIRELESS COLLECTOR Was Honored by Natural History and Art Museum--
Tributes Follow Sudden Death. Won Elliot Medal. Gave of Own Means. Hall of Fishes
Crowned Labor."
16. Board of Trustees (1929-01-01). "In Memory of Bashford Dean" (http://www.metmuseum.or
g/pubs/bulletins/1/pdf/3255787.pdf.bannered.pdf) (PDF). Bulletin of the Metropolitan
Museum of Art. 24 (1): 5. Retrieved 2013-02-12. "At a meeting of the Board of Trustees,
held on December 17, 1928, the following memorial resolution upon the late Bashford Dean
was adopted."
17. "Bashford Dean and the Creation of the Arms and Armor Department — October 2, 2012–
October 13, 2014" (http://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2012/arms-and-armor).
Exhibitions. Metropolitan Museum of Art. July 2012. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/2
0120717162535/http://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2012/arms-and-armor) from
the original on 2012-07-17. Retrieved 2014-06-15. "To mark the centennial of the Arms and
Armor Department, this exhibition surveys the career of Dr. Bashford Dean (1867–1928),
the department's founding curator."

Further reading
Shor, Elizabeth Nobel (1970–1980). "Dean, Bashford". Dictionary of Scientific Biography.
Vol. 3. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. pp. 610–611. ISBN 978-0-684-10114-9.

External links
Arms and armor catalogs by Bashford Dean (http://libmma.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/search/fi
eld/creato/searchterm/Dean,%20Bashford,%201867-1928/mode/exact) from The
Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries
Bashford Dean archives collection (http://research.frick.org/directoryweb/browserecord.php?
-action=browse&-recid=7615) at the Frick Art Reference Library - Center for the History of
Collecting
Works by or about Bashford Dean (https://archive.org/search.php?query=%28%28subject%
3A%22Dean%2C%20Bashford%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22Bashford%20Dean%22%2
0OR%20creator%3A%22Dean%2C%20Bashford%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Bashfor
d%20Dean%22%20OR%20title%3A%22Bashford%20Dean%22%20OR%20description%3
A%22Dean%2C%20Bashford%22%20OR%20description%3A%22Bashford%20Dean%2
2%29%20OR%20%28%221867-1928%22%20AND%20Dean%29%29%20AND%20%28-m
ediatype:software%29) at the Internet Archive

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