Two knee length tassets 1550-60
One for the right, the other for the left. Each formed of eight plates. The plates are secured by two internal leathers, one at the front, the other at the center and a row of sliding rivets at the outside. The edges bordered by rolls, recesses and a raised decorated line in the middle of the recess. The rolls are all full inward turned rolls stepped at the overlap to allow the plates to sit flush. The top plate shaped to the bottom of the fauld, the lowest lame shaped to the knee and embossed with leaf form decoration. The plates for each are marked with internal assembly marks consisting of notches on the inside of the plates at the bottom edge between the central leather and the sliding rivets. On the left the notches go from 2 to 7 starting from the bottom, on the right the order is reversed - starting with one notch on the top plate and ending with seven on the plate above the embossed knee plate.
This style of decoration is associated with higher quality black and white armors from the mid 16th century. See item number A-96, item number A-30a and item number A-241 for other examples of similar decoration in the Allen collection. Similar items in Graz and Churburg we made by Michael Witz the younger and Sebasian Katzmair.
Buckles removed relatively recently. Some losses to the embossing. Each shows signs of having been adapted from a different, earlier style. The central leather covers a hammered out recessed band which had a central crease and the third lame from the top has a roll across much of its bottom edge. The existence of keyholes at the rivets, a spare hole next to one rivet and no slot on the bottom of the third plate shows that in the previous form the tassets could have been separated into upper and lower sections in the same fashion as item number A-181. In this form, the tassets were likely black and white. The medial edge on the right is cut around the crotch, the left is cut straight.
For fun, the first three images show the same tassets, but in very different lighting. The first appears to be outdoors under sunlight. The second is inside a light tent with two softbox lights, and the third used the same softbox lights but without the tent. Getting pictures of shiny armor can be challenging.
If you have any questions, please send them to Wade Allen
This site last updated Sat Mar 12 10:07:48 EST 2022