The Armour Archive

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

I did see this image while doing some other research. He has what look like rivet heads all along the edges of his knees and elbows. Are the joints covered metal? The limbs maybe splinted leather. The fancy gauntlet from Cucagna has two rows of small-headed brass rivets in the cuffs and no sign tha...

Sean M

I dunno, I don't think that having a belt sliding down your legs is a good thing to have while someone is trying to stab you in the throat with a weapon... but at the same time we all know the stupid death of the poor Sir John Chandos.. so... Charney accuses men-at-arms of wearing armour which is t...

Sean M

Someone who really groks French art from this period would be helpful. What about the vertical crease on the couters? This time period is not my strong suit but elbows that look like knees is one of the reenactorisms that we often talk about. I am having a hard time thinking of parallels. There are...

Sean M

Bib. Ste. Genevieve MS.777 Decades is the only one with a lot of "schynbalds/open greaves" from France in this period which I can remember http://manuscriptminiatures.com/4053/11436/ The wings on those couters and poleyns still feel odd.

Sean M

He has a double skirt of mail, one following the cuirass hem, the other slanted with his hips. What about the shape of the couters? There is something about the overall impression I get from this piece that feels off. I very easily could be wrong. With that long neck, keeping some doubts is probably...

Sean M

How precise should we expect a silversmith to be on the technical details of a 22.5'' / 57.5 cm tall object? I'm genuinely asking, because I don't know. It just seems like a relatively small piece. Conveying an impression may have been more important, but there are still some oddities on this guy t...

Sean M

Signo, I agree. I think that guys with money tended to admire "James Bond" more than "Rambo." This guy is tall and slender but those long delicate fingers are placing the lance just right. The shape of the wings is also very aggressive. I can't think of another armour where they are almost a full se...

Sean M

Ok, lets see. I can't think of any similar globulose silhouette before 1360. Similar armour with the upper cannons disappearing inside short mail sleeves tends to show up in effigies in Veneto and the Romagna from the 1380s onwards. The lack of lames in the bracers appears at Chartres and in plenty ...

Sean M

The merchants of SWEDEN who spread their wares under the sign of Ikea now carry hand-woven rugs from Iran to the fairs of Europe. Ask for Orientteppiche or Oriental Rugs.

Sean M

I agree, its important that Gustovic put sketches of a variety of different styles in one place with dates and links to examples. I think that Blair knew an amazing amount, and when he wrote that little book he was trying to boil it down and give an overview. Its just that until Richardson nobody st...

Sean M

I think the problem is there are examples of these types of arm harnesses in places outside what we are saying. I feel like coming up with a short verses long and integral or something would be better as they are not only found in one place or another. RPM Yes, maybe Blair's "German/Italian" dichot...

Sean M

There's and example of the "italian vambrace" on a French/German effigy. http://i.imgur.com/4cGlA8b.jpg http://effigiesandbrasses.com/3099/2489/ It would be nice to have a photo of that effigy. But so far it looks like the "Italian vambrace" is an obscure style on a handful of French effigies, not ...

Sean M

On YouTube, knyghterrant posted something which has me thinking about one of the gaps between surviving armour and armour in art. In museums we have a number of bracers which are thought to date to the late 14th or early 15th century. They consist of a 'tulip-shaped' lower cannon, an elbow with one ...

Sean M

Liner sewn to the top of the top leather strip and to the bottom of the bottom leather strip, so there are no exposed rivets to chew on one's hose. I don't do Scalini. :wink: The photo I posted was of CH 54, Mann, showing very specifically the rivets and holes in what some call the 'demicuisse'. It...

Sean M

And here is that feature on the Maximillian armour. I am not an expert, and I think that this armour has been 'improved' in the last century or two, but I can't see a purpose for those rivets or the leather band which pads the washers other than looking cool. Could be something estoeric to do with a...

Sean M

the poleyns on Galeoto Malaspina's effigy remind me of some examples from the North Italian Guiron Le Courtois manuscript in Paris, which is usually dated 1370-80: http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b550063539/f185.item.zoom That Ms shows examples of two types of leg harness, one which appears to...

Sean M

I don't think that was the case. The nails I do not believe are "just bent over" like 90 degrees. They must be more like shoe nails that are curved back on themselves, otherwise they would fall out. If this was what was done, nails would do the job very well. No need for "proper rivets". It would b...

Sean M

Achbarr, That coat is in fact one we produced for the Disney movie "Haunted Mansion. (I wear it in the film) and it is patterned after the one in the Wallace collection in London. Any system you come up with needs to be quick and efficient, as the "1000 nail" thing is miss leading. My copy has arou...

Sean M

James, I believe that (because people who have handled surviving pieces think so- I remember comments by Doug Strong and by Randall Moffett), but the gentleman who is making my legharness has gone along with enough of my crazy ideas that I do not want to be too fussy. I am not paying him enough for ...

Sean M

From Doug Strong, who plans to write the book on this: The earliest surviving greave pin I know about is on s18 at Churburg. It is dated to around 1420-1430 depending on who you ask and about what piece. The upper legs are attached to the greaves with a turning pin. There are no other surviving exam...

Sean M

Coat of a Thousand Nails, I would like to make one of these. Do you have any suggestions? How would ou keep the brass nails from falling out? https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/4b/cc/83/4bcc83a8a09cbfb36d32ed557124f5c9.jpg H. Russell Robinson says that the nails were "simply bent over at the...

Sean M

Looking closer at the Chartres armour, there is a hole for a pin on the lateral side of the demi-greave and the lateral side of the greave . So the pin which stopped the poleyn from slipping downwards has been lost or stolen, so it was probably silver-gilt (thanks Mac) and might have rotated. But th...

Sean M

In the second half of the 14th century was a period where the cuisse was solid but the poleyns often lacked lames above or below. Do we have any idea what held them in place? The 'bump' over the kneecap of the cuisse from Chartres acts kind of like a lame, but I am not sure if the strap around the b...

Sean M

Mac, would having someone help you set up something that you are paying for, and won't change its interface unexpectedly or vanish, help? Learning a new system takes time, but sometimes the latest owner of these hosting companies force it on you, and there ought to be people here who would gladly pu...

Sean M

Beautiful work! I would be scared to use it, even just wearing it riding. I just don't have the right attitude to portray an aristocratic horseman whose accoutrements need to scream "I have more money than you and I'm not afraid to risk it."

Sean M

I had Gutfran on my list of people I would order from but he had a much longer waiting list than I could go with at the time to be able to start fighting this year. :/ Usually a sign of a good armourer who hasn't raised his prices fast enough. The other thing is, someone who buys good armour has a ...

Sean M

I wonder if there are events in or around the Netherlands where potential customers can try on used or stock armour? One of the biggest differences between buying armour today and buying it in the fourteenth century was that then, the guy in the bottega or the stall at the fair had ten pairs of cuis...

Sean M

Thanks Fred, I added my location to my profile, it should show up now. I live in The Netherlands, Europe. I'm 173 cm tall, 65 kg, fairly normal build, little bit of fat and muscle. If it's helpful I can post more detailed measurements in about a week and a half, when I get my gambeson and padded ho...

Sean M

Losthelm, An interesting idea. I had not thought about something akin to a dishwasher but that might work. I share my storage area with my shop so I'd like to make a bit more shop space. RPM That was my idea too. Or something like one of those X-framed wooden drying racks for plates from Ikea. No n...

Sean M

This will initially sound kind of counter intuitive, but I think that there is something to be said for reasonably complete plate as the best thing for a small person. Many people attempt to use leather or plastic to minimize weight. Then the material gets thick in order to get enough protection. O...

Sean M

There's always some sort of beef going on between the historical reenactment movement and the HMB movement. Never heard of HMB so obviously is has not affected me or anyone I know There are a bunch of different acronyms, but its the fighting where they put on very heavy armour, get together in team...

Sean M

"Re-enactment" covers a pretty big range, from people interested in presenting daily life and learning historical skills, to people who dress up and have a bash. It means different things to different people ... another good reason to talk to people and find out what they do, not judge them on label...

Sean M

There is also a new book with translations of 81 (!) fourteenth-century sources for Crecy available new for $40 in softcover http://deremilitari.org/2016/05/michael ... ook-smith/

Sean M

There are existing items that have velvet covered staps and tabs Graham. A few of the fine late 16th century harnesses in Schloss Ambras also have that feature, including one of the armours for Archduke Ferdinand's sons from the time when he was trying to get people to overlook that their mother wa...

Re: Must-see armour museums in Europe?

Re: Saint George Statue BNM: Holes on edges of armour?

Re: Opinions on the St George Statue from Château de Seneffe

Re: Opinions on the St George Statue from Château de Seneffe

Re: Opinions on the St George Statue from Château de Seneffe

Re: Opinions on the St George Statue from Château de Seneffe

Re: Opinions on the St George Statue from Château de Seneffe

Re: Opinions on the St George Statue from Château de Seneffe

Re: Opinions on the St George Statue from Château de Seneffe

Re: PSA: Do you have your arming carpet?

Re: The So-Called "Italian Vambrace"

Re: The So-Called "Italian Vambrace"

Re: The So-Called "Italian Vambrace"

The So-Called "Italian Vambrace"

Re: Those Strange Pistoia Poleyns

Re: Those Strange Pistoia Poleyns

Re: Those Strange Pistoia Poleyns

Re: Coat o a Thousand Nails

Re: Coat o a Thousand Nails

Re: Those Strange Pistoia Poleyns

Re: Those Strange Pistoia Poleyns

Re: Coat o a Thousand Nails

Re: Those Strange Pistoia Poleyns

Those Strange Pistoia Poleyns

Re: Dusting off the cobwebs

Re: Roman cavalry helmet repro

Re: Affordable makers for late 14th century armour

Re: Affordable makers for late 14th century armour

Re: Affordable makers for late 14th century armour

Re: Storing shields

Re: Armor design tips for someone who's small

Re: Authentic misunderstanding

Re: Authentic misunderstanding

Re: Chronicles of Jean le Bel, new out from Boydel & Brewer

Re: Silk/Velvet Covered Straps?