EUROPEAN RIGHT TASSET C.1550-1660

Rare survivor of the late medieval sieges, this is the right tasset from the armor of a sapper (miner and sapper), whose function was to dig trenches in front of and to the foundations of a fortification or castle under siege. The trenches (saps) allowed troops and artillery to return fire with some degree of cover to the besieged enemy. The sappers who built them faced the fiercest of musket and cannon fire and wore extra heavy armor designed for that purpose. This is the right tasset from a sapper’s armor of the period. It is one piece hammered iron, 6 ¾” x 12” along the curve, with double pierced holes at the top for attachment to the breastplate. It is decorated in brass rivets with a diamond and bar motif and edge rivets, two of which retain their iron gussets on the back indicating that they originally secured a leather liner. While sapper’s helmets and breastplates are occasionally encountered, we have not seen a detached or mounted tasset other than this example.