The Armour Archive

Sean M

That panel is hard to interpret, because it has "old timey" armour and the next three show the latest style. I would read that as a winged helmet.

Quite a bit of this "Roman" armour would make fun projects, even if we can't say for sure how much of it was really worn.

Sean M

Nice, I´ve been able to find an earlier example of the "solid fingers" (?) type of plates. From the Pistoia altarpiece, started in 1367 and finished in 1371. Thank you for that picture of panel no 6 (dragging St. James to his trial)! I had not found that closeup, but I would agree that it shows a g...

Sean M

I noticed that too. 1st time I've seen one like that. "tailbone armour" It looks very functional. It might be that quite a few armourers worked up how to do rondels as extra protection for various body parts. That feels like it could have been a good "money maker." The alphabet soup organizations f...

Sean M

The thread Ideas for historical-themed SCA hourglass gauntlets from 2014 has a discussion of types of finger protection in European gauntlets. For another weirdness, have a look at the sides of the right fingers and thumbs on the effigy of Bernabo Visconti: http://platener.eu/wyrobygaleria/1363-85_B...

Sean M

Cop is a problem on forums because it has turned into a short form of "coat of plates." A problem with "scales vs. knuckles" is that some gauntlets combine the two systems. Here is a find from modern Poland (dark grey is the pieces they have, white is their reconstruction): https://bookandsword.file...

Sean M

..... "cops and cannons" fingers (can we find a better term perhaps?) I may be responsible for having coined that term some years back, and I do feel your pain. If anyone can find an authentic term or even a better modern one, I'll be pleased to use it. Mac Would "4-plate (fingertip, middle bone, k...

Sean M

I would start by pointing out that the weapon handle should be aligned to the first knuckle plate and not toward the second, and that most of the time, the weapon held in hand, is at an angle, and not square to the hand. So make sure that there is more than a single line that can accomodate the wea...

Sean M

In my research, I concluded that scale fingers were far more common and prestigious in late trecento Italy than they are today. Each city had its favourite style, and I also found documentary evidence for "gadlings"/"cops and cannons" so that is not inappropriate ... but I can't recall any art south...

Sean M

Having spent several hours with the A 62 gauntlets in my hands, I concluded that while the fingers are real and could well be by a member of the Helmschmid family for a later(?) pair of gauntlets, they do not belong. The A 58 gauntlet Tom linked to (often appearing on A 60) has fingers that are mos...

Sean M

Thanks Mac. That agrees with modern taste, but after looking at 14th century sources, I had been getting a feeling that they were very 'English' at that time. The A 62 in Wien only has five or six scales per finger ... the rest of that armour is so exuberantly articulated, but when they got to the f...

Sean M

St. Florian is the patron of firefighters, so maybe he will protect your fingers. Thank you for taking the time to make photos, post them, and turn your notes into forum posts! How common are gauntlet fingers with "cops and cannons" in that place and time? I think we would all pay a good deal to hav...

Sean M

Nice 'mixed media' project! I think that there is room for plattners and tailors to talk to each other about things other than how to quilt the best lining.

Sean M

Hi Gerhard, I am sorry that I am prickly. Keep watching Gladius and Arms & Armour and you may see something free over the next few years. You are welcome to =buy= the booklet on how I researched my current project, if I can ever afford to write it up. I don't think that anyone is sure that surfaces ...

Sean M

And also, why would a plattner do the messiest, roughest grinding themselves (or bother applying a very fine grit on polishing which was just going to be ground away by professionals)? Not only might the polishers' guild object, but they had the skills and tools to do a far better job cheaper and qu...

Sean M

Gerhard, there is no convenient summary of what we know about polishing (which is not as much as we would like, but far more than nothing). I may be able to write an article on it from an academic perspective one day. The armourers in the cities had access to guilds of professional polishers with wa...

Sean M

John, that is very cool! Thank you. I suspected that kyndalAg08 was going to have a hard time finding what she wanted, because a grand bascinet and a front-opening, covered armour 'say' opposite things.

Sean M

You might look at mid-to-late 15th century France, where covered breastplates and brigandines were in fashion, such as in BNF Français 2643. But I am pretty sure that nobody stuck wearing an ugly old flat pair of plates would wear them with a helmet which requires a staff of servants!

Sean M

Do you mean the flat one with 9 columns and 5 rows of rectangular plates? I would be interested to see a 15th century source where anyone wears that style of armour with any style of helmet! I have no idea where that armour was published, or why its attributed to 15th century Italy. Edit: Also if th...

Sean M

Although Italian documents from the fourteenth century are full of names and armourers' marks which seem to have value either for selling the pieces or for identifying them (it looks like a good merchant could recognize different armourers' 'hands,' and maybe customers came asking for a pair of gaun...

Sean M

Now... if you really want to see the other end of the spectrum, check out how the German guilds marked work that met with their approval. Sometimes the guild stamps even distort or crush the decoration. (I'm not finding any good images online right now... perhaps Wade has something in his collectio...

Sean M

Keep your solutions coming! It seems like a good thing with baskets is that we don't have to worry about breaking or scratching them. Just make another run to the local store! A disadvantage is that they don't close very well. For myself, I picked up some heavy, dense-woven linen at EUR 5/meter in t...

Sean M

A post on how I solved a problem which I created for myself last August is now online . There is a photo of the doublet open showing both sleeves. It weighs 1300 grams or 3 pounds American. Still eyelets in the sleeves, points in the skirt, a proper lace to find, and some photos to take from the sam...

Sean M

You simply have to go to the right place and choose the right piece of leather for a project. My experience with American retailers has been to pick carefully from hides with a predetermined style of project in mind, and to never to use a piece of leather for something that does not seem suitable. ...

Sean M

Some good threads with 13th century solutions are MyArmoury Carrying Bucklers http://myarmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=19172 (gaukler, Elling Polden, David Teague) and Small Buckler http://myarmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?p=109424#109424 (with Elling Polden).

Sean M

I have not seen that in other pictures, but my interest trails off after 1410. It does not seem like it would work with an I-shaped grip like earlier bucklers instead of a C-shaped grip, and it seems like if you need the buckler you are likely to fumble something in the draw. Straps over the mouth o...

Sean M

Thanks for all the pictures Chris! (And to everyone for their suggestions). I think I have seen references to coffers and barrels for storing harness. There are some in Richardson's thesis for sure. Sometimes the airline-friendly solution (a golf-club case with armour bags and a note to the nice TSA...

Sean M

As my preciouses start to arrive, I think its time to machine-sew up some bags for them. Putting armour in bags is a good way to keep the pieces from scratching one another, the oil on the armour, and household dust off the armour. I like my drawstring helmet bag from Windrose. Do you folks have any...

Sean M

In the thread Saint George Statue BNM: Holes on edges of armour? , Tom B found another picture of what looks like splinted greaves over hosen: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/d1/b7/1b/d1b71b3cb8b3097c0728711ebe9b43db.jpg It reminds me of the armour with holes in the BNM Munich. I have seen...

Sean M

Interesting! I also like that the buckler is hollow towards the enemy, not the reverse. That can be a good solution if the other guy is likely to have a long pokey sword.

I am a little more dubious of his way of carrying the buckler (look closely ...)

Sean M

How I would test would be to buy a sample and hem the edges and throw it in the washer and see if it disintegrates; I'll ask my wife tonight what *she* would suggest as I'm a blacksmith and she's the spinster! Yes, I was raised to wash the fabric rougher than I plan to wash the garment before I cut...

Sean M

I've not suggested italian museum because traveling in Italy can be expensive in terms of time and money, ... I was shocked how cheap and convenient travelling in Italy was :) Its a good idea to reserve hotels before the start of the tourist season, but you can usually find a place in a hostel or B...

Sean M

And here I sit looking out at a couple hundred acres of long staple cotton fields...After mechanical harvesting there is a massive amount of untouched cotton if you can get to it before the mow it down and turn it under. Gleaning is medieval! If you are really keen, Jessica Finley has videos on how...

Sean M

Thank you both! I still have to finish a few seams, re-attach the cuffs, and add back in some of the material which I removed from the lower sleeve to make it hug my forearm. When I first made up the sleeves and tried them on, I felt that they were 2" too long, so I removed the cuffs. It turned out ...

Sean M

Since some people have been complaining that the archive is slow, here is a sneak peek at one of the sleeves after I bound the armscye seam with strips of linen. https://bookandsword.files.wordpress.com/2016/11/p1000755_ins-de_doublet_arm_opening-e1479652562494.jpg I should have properly finished th...

Sean M

Also, some sites in most European countries are wholly or partially closed from November through March. The Italian ones will be closed randomly all year round per lavore , because the local diocese already spent all its money, etc. but in winter some things are just not open. So if you are really a...

Re: Hinged cheeks?

Re: The start of a Journey: professional armouring

Re: Front closing breastplate: Paulus Kal Solothurner Fechtb

Re: The start of a Journey: professional armouring

Re: The start of a Journey: professional armouring

Re: The start of a Journey: professional armouring

Re: The start of a Journey: professional armouring

Re: The start of a Journey: professional armouring

Re: Dusting off the cobwebs

Re: Dusting off the cobwebs

Re: Dusting off the cobwebs

Re: The start of a Journey: professional armouring

Re: Dusting off the cobwebs

Re: Dusting off the cobwebs

Re: Dusting off the cobwebs

Re: Great(or grand) Bascinet worn with a large plate brigand

Re: Great(or grand) Bascinet worn with a large plate brigand

Re: Great(or grand) Bascinet worn with a large plate brigand

Re: Dusting off the cobwebs

Re: Dusting off the cobwebs

Re: Armour Bags

Re: A linen armouring project

Re: Armour Bags

Re: Leather armour in art? (brown with metal strips & rivets

Re: Leather armour in art? (brown with metal strips & rivets

Re: Armour Bags

Armour Bags

Re: Leather armour in art? (brown with metal strips & rivets

Re: Leather armour in art? (brown with metal strips & rivets

Re: A linen armouring project

Re: Must-see armour museums in Europe?

Re: A linen armouring project

Re: A linen armouring project

Re: A linen armouring project

Re: Must-see armour museums in Europe?