The Armour Archive

In Norman's A&A, there is a silver repoussed altarpiece that has a bascinet with a 'tail' protecting the neck (1376?). Today at B&N I picked up a discount book on Rogier van der Weyden. In it, there was another version in Weyden's Miraflores Altarpiece (c1435?).

http://gallery.euroweb.hu/art/w/weyden/ ... iraflo.jpg

The soldier on the right of the tomb has a similar tail on his helmet (great bascinet?), which is more apparent if you have a larger image.

So it is possible that this rather rare method of protecting the back of the neck lasted for around 60 years.

Oh, there are some in Rene's Tourney book as well, which being c1450? would extend the date, but in that example, it is worn by people not in the forefront of armor fashion, but 'reserves' (squires helping constable the list).

Hello.

Many 15th century sources show "tails" on helmets. Some look like "lobstertails" and are added to many kinds of helmets like open- faced sallets and the famed "disc" skull caps.
Quite a few even show some kind of strap and buckle hanging from the backs of visored sallets, too.
Some of these laminated "aprons" resemble the aprons that are hanging from early 15th century breastplates like in the artwork of the silver Pistoia altarpiece.

Regards

Ivo

Alcyoneus wrote:In Norman's A&A, there is a silver repoussed altarpiece that has a bascinet with a 'tail' protecting the neck (1376?). Today at B&N I picked up a discount book on Rogier van der Weyden. In it, there was another version in Weyden's Miraflores Altarpiece (c1435?).

http://gallery.euroweb.hu/art/w/weyden/ ... iraflo.jpg

The soldier on the right of the tomb has a similar tail on his helmet (great bascinet?), which is more apparent if you have a larger image.

So it is possible that this rather rare method of protecting the back of the neck lasted for around 60 years.

Oh, there are some in Rene's Tourney book as well, which being c1450? would extend the date, but in that example, it is worn by people not in the forefront of armor fashion, but 'reserves' (squires helping constable the list).

It isn't particularly rare in art - only none survive intact that I know of. The method continued - look to early 16th century 'close' sallets or 'great' sallets. Even when the tail isn't extant, the method for it's attatchment is obvious - there is a nice painted skull in the Higgins from one of these, from the Rhodes find, circa 1500.

Too bad you couldn't photoshop the scan you made, crop it and enlarge the background, so we could all see what you are talking about.