The Armour Archive

Tracy Justus

There are two surviving 14th c candlestocks, one in the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge and one in the British Museum. They are of wax, about 21" tall and tapered with a spike on the end designed to accept a true candle. Both are painted in a spiral design with green, red, white, and gilding. U...

Tracy Justus

April 2nd is Atlantian Coronation, which will be held in Mebane NC-- about halfway between our house and Wade's.

T.

Tracy Justus

The RSC is selling off a bunch of costumes... OVER 10,000 ITEMS IN ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY COSTUME SALE Saturday 12 February, 10am - 5pm RSC Rehearsal Rooms, Arden Street (at the junction with Birmingham Rd) The Royal Shakespeare Company will be holding a Costume Sale on Saturday 12 February at it...

Tracy Justus

Line a cloak with it. Simone Martini, Annunciation, 1333. Detail.

T.

Tracy Justus

The Wallace Collection is hosting a one-day conference Feb. 19th in honor of the late Claude Blair. The website doesn't give much information but Wade's told me the lecture schedule and it sounds very interesting. The big names from the A&A museum world will be giving talks. If anyone here talks...

Tracy Justus

Wade- April 9th Tom will be shelling Ft. Sumpter and April 16th we'll be in NYC for a wedding. The 2nd, 23rd, and 30th are open. We can provide crash space if needed on the weekends we're home.

ETA: Some of the new arms Wade got are pretty interesting.

Tracy

Tracy Justus

Probably this one. --T

Tracy Justus

Doublet belonging to Pandolfo Malatesta --T.

Tracy Justus

I think those tied strips of cloth in the MoL book were not garters to keep up hose but were scraps used to tie up bundles of stuff that has since rotted. I use scraps to tie up cloth all the time. I've tied scraps around my cat's neck. I've tied my hair back with scraps. Garters are not the only an...

Tracy Justus

I came across this image from the 1530s where Henry VIII's fool Will Somers is wearing a coat with the collar made into a hood. It's too late for the OP's timeframe, though, and my guess is that it's occupational clothing.

T.

Tracy Justus

Bob-- is your pattern based on the Moritz von Sachsen garments? --Tracy

Tracy Justus

One of the problems you are going to run into is that there are at least a dozen 15th c knives that survive for every 14th c knife. The literature reflects that. Even fewer sheaths survive. I have Historische Bestecke . The photos are color, full size, and the descriptions are in English as well as ...

Tracy Justus

Medieval Decorative Ironwork in England by Jane Geddes. Kind of expensive- look for it through a library first.

T.

Tracy Justus

You don't say what weight she's interest in, but she should look at http://colourmart.com/ . They repackage and sell remaindered yarn from high end European manufacturers, especially knitting yarn.

Tracy

Tracy Justus

Tasha, Fashion and Armour in Renaissance Europe may be of use to you.

Tracy

Tracy Justus

Fragments of handguns have been found at the site of the battle of Towton (1461). Article with pics.

T.

Tracy Justus

We have some benches made by Master Daffyd after his article. They have lasted us many years. We also have some benches made by the same pattern using heavier lumber. We used 5/4 for the seats. 5/4 lumber is sold as stair tread. Despite being breakdown they are rock solid.

Tracy

Tracy Justus

I did the sewing. As usual, a fun project. The garments are made of linen, wool and silk. The outfit was assembled by machine and hand finished. The doublet and slops are based on a wood bas-relief of c 1540 in the arsenal at Graz. I also looked at a 1545 painting of the Field of Cloth of Gold in th...

Tracy Justus

Argh, I was going to add Medieval Garments Reconstructed: Norse Clothing Patterns which was scheduled for release next week. I see it's now been pushed back to mid December. Thanks for the notes, K.

T.

Tracy Justus

More links: Pics of the excavation. 5000 Jahre alt ist diese HolztÃ¼r, die auf der Grabung Parkhaus OpÃ©ra freigelegt worden ist. Das TÃ¼rblatt misst 153 x 88 cm. Die drei Bretter sind durch zwei Leisten verbunden. Die Fixierung erfolgt mit je drei sorgfÃ¤ltig aus den Brettern herausgearbeiteten Ã–s...

Tracy Justus

More information. --T.

Tracy Justus

I've used jeans as a starting point to draft a pattern (but not as a base for the cuisse). Put the jeans on and use chalk or soap to draw the crotch and bottom hem seams and indicate how far around the slats need to go. We've made gamboised cuisses with and without slats. For slats we've used both s...

Tracy Justus

Like this one? --T.

Tracy Justus

I know it's small, not much bigger than the palm of my hand, but would you put a coin or ruler in the photos to give us a sense of how delicate a scale you are working in? Fascinating work.

T.

Tracy Justus

You can cast in cuttlefish bone. (That's the white stuff that's put in bird cages as a vitamin suppliment.) From Wikipedia: Because cuttlebone is able to withstand high temperatures and is easily carved, it serves as mold-making material for small metal casting for the creation of jewelry and small ...

Tracy Justus

An article with a slide show. The final photo is of Sir Gaston of Pennsic House fame. --T

Tracy Justus

Thank Mikkel. Once he's decided what he has to carry I'll know how small I can make it. My husband found this image . It appears that the inside of the outerflap has a textile drawstring pouch rather than the slit opening surmised in Purses in Pieces. Unfortunately there is no citation for the sourc...

Tracy Justus

You are right Cellach, it was Haandkraft. Thanks! I'm looking to make one for my husband.

In the process of looking I came across this leather spoon case via here which I though ya'll might be interested in.

Tracy

Tracy Justus

A year or two ago I found a blog of a fellow who had made fantastic recreations of many of the purses in Purses in Pieces . I no longer have the link-- does anyone know the site I'm talking about? I think he was from northern Europe, possibly Sweden. I've found many nice purses via Googling and Lars...

Tracy Justus

A back wall for a sunshade might not be strictly historical but in an SCA context it can block sight of things that distract from the ambiance-- parking lots, highways, porta-johns etc.

Tracy Justus

The casa is as splendid as I hoped it would be. I have a question: how are the floor panels connected to each other, and how are the walls connected to the floor?

Tracy

Tracy Justus

The pic that Karen posted of Philip II's invalid chair is a detail from a larger drawing of his chair, dated 1596. It is on castors and the back and leg rest are adjustable. A full page photo is on page 189 of The Italian Renaissance Interior 1400-1600 by Peter Thornton (1991). I googled the manuscr...

Tracy Justus

G- A little late for your purposes, but there's the 1623 Van Dyck portrait of Elena Grimaldi in the National Gallery in DC. Details. A History of the Umbrella by TS Crawford (1970) claims there are couple of depictions of umbrellas in the Utrecht Psalter but I couldn't find them in looking through t...

Tracy Justus

I'm a seamstress, and just before Pennsic I altered an Icefalcon gambeson because it was too big on my client. The outer and lining are cotton. The padding is polyester which is not as comfortable as a cotton padding in the heat. In my opinion the size runs large- my client has a 40" chest and ...

Tracy Justus

So... have any photos of Gaston's casa made it onto the internet?

T.

Royal Shakespeare Company costume sale

Wallace Collection's Claude Blair conference

Handguns at Towton

"Suburban Knights" on NPR

recreations of men's leather purses