Costume left leg armor for Tin Man in The Wiz on Broadway: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This left leg armor is part of a costume worn by Tiger Haynes as Tin Man in "The Wiz: The Super Soul Musical 'Wizard of Oz'" on Broadway. The object consists of a cuisse that covers the thigh portion of the leg, and a greave that covers the shin of the leg. Both the cuisse and the greave are made from reinforced plastic formed into graduated half cylinders to fit around the leg.

Each piece has a metal hinge on the inside so that it can be opened and be placed around the leg. Both pieces secure on the outside of the leg with two (2) leather straps and metal buckles. The cuisse also has three (3) sets of metal snap closures. Two (2) leather straps are screwed to the bottom of the back side of the cuisse and to the top of the back side of the greave to connect the pieces together. There is one (1) additional leather strap with a metal buckle screwed to the cuisse at the top edge of the center front side. The borders of each piece are edged in cloth tape except the top of the cuisse, which is edged in leather. The cuisse is painted all over with silver metallic paint. The greave is painted with a base color of cream paint. On both the front and back sides of the greave, a trompe l'oeil of a Budweiser beer can label is painted, a red rectangle border around a cream shield on top of a cream rectangle. Faint blue text painted over the cream rectangle, and blue detailing in the shield, either has faded over time or previously was painted over with cream paint.

The interiors of both pieces are finished with silver metallic paint. The interior front side of the cuisse has past repairs or stabilization using large pieces of tape and heavy glue.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1975
• Designed by: Geoffrey Holder, Trinidadian American, 1930 - 2014
• Created by: Fred Nihda, 1931 - 1997
• Worn by: Tiger Haynes, American, 1914 - 1994
• Subject of: Black Fashion Museum, American, 1979 - 2007
• Type: closed greaves
• Type: cuisses
• Medium: reinforced plastic, paint, metal, leather, tape, and glue
• Dimensions: H x W x D: 30 1/2 × 8 1/4 × 7 in. (77.5 × 21 × 17.8 cm)
• Place used: New York City, Manhattan, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Actors
• Topic: Clothing and dress
• Topic: Costume
• Topic: Costume design
• Topic: Design
• Topic: Men
• Topic: Musical Theatre
• Object number: 2007.3.7.1.4
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of the Black Fashion Museum founded by Lois K. Alexander-Lane
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: Unknown - Restrictions Possible Rights assessment and proper usage is the responsibility of the user.