Tournament shield (Tartsche)

This shield is a central European tartsche made for tournament use. Its bright colour is chosen so that the knight and the house he represents may be identified while in play. The slanted top to the tartsche is designed for providing some level of protection to the left chest area, with the slant in the top section of the shield allowing for its user to maintain a good level of visibility. However, as this was a tournament shield, the tartsche also supplied a level of theatrics and melodrama to the proceedings. When hit, the wooden-based tournament shield would explode into shards and fly over the head of the jouster in a dazzling display. This tartsche is partially covered by vellum or hide.