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Sat 20 Nov, 2004 12:33 pm

"Black" Sallet, circa 1490

A Highly Rare South German 'Black' Sallet, circa 1490

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Possessing a one-piece skull of deep flaring form with a broad, gently rounded crown, a long medially-ridged tail and a shallow trapezoidal face-opening covered by a pivoted visor of flat medially-ridged form, pierced at each side with a flanged vision-slit and secured to the, skull at the right side by a spring-catch with push-button release, the skull fitted at the base of its crown with a series of twelve flush lining-rivets with octagonal internal washers, the edges of the skull and, visor pierced with pairs of small stitch-holes, and the surface painted overall with an heraldic design, of white fleur-de-lis on a red ground.

Overall height: 7 1/2 in; Overall length: 19 1/2 in; Weight: 5 1/2 lb

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It would be hard to overstate the rarity and importance of this strikingly colorful sallet. With its bold overall heraldic design, it can be counted as one of, perhaps, no more than half a dozen surviving helmets of the late 15th century to retain its original painted decoration.

Helmets of this kind, intended chiefly for wear by the man-at-arms, have come to be called 'black' sallets from the fact that they were commonly supplied by the armourer with a 'black from the hammer' finish. In many instances, however, the black finish was subsequently concealed by the purchaser beneath either a painted design of the kind seen on the present well-preserved example, or a fabric covering, although evidence for such embellishment is now extremely rare. Only two painted sallets of the type under discussion have hitherto been recorded. The first, formerly in the collections of Professor Bahr of Dresden and Baron Peuker of Berlin, came originally from the Castle of Ort in Bavaria and is now in the Royal Armouries Museum, Leeds (Inv. No. FV.12), while the second, long preserved in the collections of Schloss Ambras, near Innsbruck, in association with the Milanese armour of Roberto da Sanseverino (d. 1487), but inscribed within its lining with the name of the Bavarian city of Ulm, is now in the Hofjagd- und Rüstkammer, Vienna (Inv. No. A3). The former is painted in red and white with a pattern of radiating flames at the crown, and a pattern of squares charged with stars, portcullises and diagonal trellises elsewhere, while the latter is painted in the same colors with an overall pattern of lozenges charged with stars.

The alternative method of decorating sallets of this kind, namely with a fabric covering, is well shown in Albrecht Dürer's celebrated water-color drawing of a man-at-arms in the Albertina, Vienna, inscribed by the artist with the date 1498 and the legend 'This was the manner of arming in former days'. The same sallet is shown by Dürer in his later engraving of 'The Knight, Death and the Devil', dated 1513. Although no sallets of the type under discussion now retain fabric coverings, it is likely that three in the armory of the Trapp family at Schloss Churburg, South Tyrol, which are pierced overall, except at the top of the crown, with pairs of stitch-holes, would have originally possessed them. The same is true of a sallet in the Museo Correr, Venice, which shows similar pairs of holes around the lower half of its skull. The pairs of small holes pierced around the edges of several other sallets of this kind, including those bearing painted decoration, may also have been provided for the attachment of a covering. Although it has been suggested that the purpose of these holes was to attach a lining, two arguments can be offered against this view. In the first place, the original quilted linings preserved in the three Churburg sallets, the Vienna sallet and a further sallet from Munich, formerly in the collection of the Baron de Cosson and now in the Royal Armouries Museum, Leeds (Inv. No. IV. 13), are in every case secured within their respective skulls by lines of rivets running around the bases of their crowns, rather than by the pairs of stitch-holes running around their edges. In the second place, the stitch-holes in question run not only around the edges of the skulls, but also around the edges of the visors. Since Dürer's illustrations show this kind of sallet being worn without a bevor, it has been suggested that the provision of a lining within its visor would have been desirable to reduce the effects of a blow to the face. However, such a lining would also have affected the proper seating of the visor, especially as the holes which supposedly served to attach it extend not merely over the face, but around the pivots and spring-catch of the latter. It seems most reasonable to assume that the paired stitch-holes pierced around the edges of so many 'black' sallets were provided for the attachment of a fabric covering, even if, as in the case of Leeds, Vienna and the present example, their purchasers ultimately elected to embellish them with painted decoration.

Aside from the examples discussed above, 'black' sallets can be recorded in the Musee de l'Armee, Paris, the Museum fur Deutsche Geschichte, Berlin, the Collezione Odescalchi, Rome (Inv. No. 762), the Royal Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh (Ace. No. 1905.463.468), and the Von Kienbusch Collection, Philadelphia Museum of Art (Cat. No. 51). Sadly, the majority of surviving sallets of this type have been subjected to heavy over cleaning in a misguided attempt to remove their original 'black from the hammer' finish. The sallet shown here offers a rare opportunity to appreciate how such a helmet would have appeared when it was first made and decorated.

Copyright © 2001 Peter Finer