The long-tailed German sallet was out of fashion as a field helmet by the early sixteenth century, but it continued to be used thereafter for the Scharfrennen, a joust fought between two contestants with sharp (rather than blunted) lances in an open field. Specially designed armors for this contest, known as Rennzeuge, included sallets bolted at the front to a buffe––a large rigid defense covering the lower face and neck––which in turn was bolted to the breastplate so that the head and upper body remained immobile. This sallet and buffe belong to a distinctive series of Rennzeuge made for use in the Saxon court at Dresden. Although unmarked, they are thought to have been made by the court armorers at Annaberg, in the Saxon territories. Two complete harnesses of this type are in the Metropolitan Museum's collection (acc. nos. 29.92.3, .4).
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Title:Sallet and Buffe for a Rennzeug in the Saxon Fashion
Date:ca. 1570–1600
Culture:German
Medium:Steel, leather
Dimensions:H. 20 in. (50.8 cm); W. 8 3/4 in. (22.2 cm); D. 14 3/4 in. (37.5 cm); Wt. 10 lb. 3 oz. (4598 g)
Classification:Helmets
Credit Line:Gift of William H. Riggs, 1913
Object Number:14.25.589
Sir Bernard Brocas, Wokefield Park, Berkshire, England (until 1834; Ancient Arms and Armour . . . lately the property of Barnard Brocas, Esq., George Robins, London, March 19, 1834, no. 458); John Walker Baily, London (until d. 1873; by descent to his son and executor, Walker); Walker Baily, London (1873–1881; sold together with the entire Baily collection of arms and armor, for £450, to de Cosson); Charles Alexander de Cosson, London (1881–1893; Armour and Arms of the Baron de Cosson, Christie, Manson, & Woods, London, May 2, 1893, no. 113, sold, for 105 gns, to Duveen); [Duveen Brothers, London, 1893; sold, for £110, 5s., to Riggs]; William H. Riggs, Paris (1893–1913; his gift to MMA).
London. New Gallery. "Exhibition of the Royal House of Tudor," 1890–April 6, 1890, no. 703.
London. South Kensington Museum. "Exhibition of the de Cosson Collection," 1891–93.
New York. Brooklyn Museum. "Loan Exhibition of European Arms and Armor," June 12–October 31, 1933, no. 42.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "European Helmets 1450–1650: Treasures from the Reserve Collection," January 25, 2000–December 30, 2001.
Engelhard von Löhneyss, Georg. Della Cavalleria. Remlingen, 1624. (this group of armors discussed).
Robins, George. Ancient Arms and Armour. London: George Robins, March 19–22, 1834. lot 458.
"John Walker Bailey (1809–1873)." Journal of the British Archaeological Association 30 pp. 349–350.
Burges, W., and Charles A. de Cosson. Catalogue of the Exhibition of Ancient Helmets and Examples of Mail. London: The Royal Archaeological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, 1881. no. 32, fig. 30.
New Gallery. Exhibition of the Royal House of Tudor: The New Gallery, Regent Street. London: The Gallery, 1890. p. 165, no. 703.
Christie, Manson & Woods. Armour and Arms, or, Catalogue of the Famous Collection of Armour and Arms Formed by That Well-Known Connoisseur, The Baron de Cosson, F.S.A., Which Has Been On Loan to the South Kensington Museum for the Last Two Years. London: Christie, Manson & Woods, May 2–3, 1893. p. 17, no. 113.
Dean, Bashford. The Collection of Arms and Armor of Rutherford Stuyvesant, 1843–1909. New York: privately printed, 1914. no. 13, pl. 8.
Grancsay, Stephen V., and Brooklyn Museum. Loan Exhibition of European Arms and Armor. Brooklyn: Brooklyn Museum, June–August 1933. p. 10, no. 42, ill. as unnumbered plate in rear of book.
Pyhrr, Stuart W. European Helmets, 1450–1650: Treasures from the Reserve Collection. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Jan 25, 2000 - Dec 30, 2000. pp. 4, 36, no. 57, ill.
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