The Armour Archive

I am trying to assemble some SCA feast gear that is (reasonably) authentic for an Anglo-Saxon from around the time before the conquest.
Most of what I have found has been from www.regia.org. This is what I have found so far, and a few questions that I have.

Knife - It seems that this was the most common utensil for eating.
I forged a seax yesterday and set it into a bone handle. I feel relatively certain that it is a decent reproduction.

Spoon - From what I understand they were made of wood, I intend to carve one pretty soon. On http://www.regia.org/bonework1.htm they
have a reproduction bone spoon based on one found at Winchester dated from the 9th to 11th centuries. I haven't been able to find any
examples of wooden spoons.

The spoon is very shallow, and I wonder if that is because of the flat bone it is carved from, or if that was the common design in that period.
Would a wooden spoon have been carved any deeper? Any information on this would be very helpful.

Here is the original bone spoon --> [url]http://www.winchestermuseumcollections.org.uk/index.asp?page=item&mwsquery={collection}={archaeology}&id=6[/url]

Plates, Bowls, and Cups - The woodworking page on regia.org talks about using a pole-lathe to turn cups and bowls. My brother built a
pole-lathe last year, so I probably going to try my hand at turning some cups and bowls with it. The only questions I have the are the matter
of shape and size. Were there common shapes and sizes, or does it really matter?

Also, plates. I realize that there probably aren't any surviving plates(being made of wood), but are there any sources that give any idea about the
size, depth, or shape(square, round, oval) of plates in that period?

Any help/advice/constructive criticism is greatly welcomed. [/quote]

There's a few links at http://larsdatter.com/feastgear2.htm and http://www.larsdatter.com/spoons.htm that may help you, too.

The York Archeological Trust has pictures of at least one spoon, wooden platter, cup, and bowl from the Viking period on their online photo archive here: http://www.yorkarchaeology.co.uk/piclib/photos.php .

For myself, I've been slowly working toward making some 11th century Anglo Saxon pottery. Most of my attempts are hindered by my lack of a wood kiln, and I've been forced to cheat on the finish and use modern glazes instead of relying on the reduction and ash of a proper wood firing.

I got to fire some of my pieces in a neighboring school's wood kiln two weeks ago, though, and am rather pleased with the results. These are my attempts at some 10th/11th century Stamford Ware:

http://andrewwelton.com/woodkiln/11.jpg
http://andrewwelton.com/woodkiln/4.jpg
http://andrewwelton.com/woodkiln/5.jpg
http://andrewwelton.com/woodkiln/6.jpg
http://andrewwelton.com/woodkiln/2.jpg

I still cheated in a few notable ways. I used a commercially produced clear glaze instead of lead (for obvious reasons). I glazed the insides of all the pieces, and used rather more glaze than I think was used on the originals... glazing everything just makes washing them so much easier. My pieces were fired much hotter than the originals (to cone 11, because that's what the kiln was firing to) and so I used a white stoneware clay instead of earthenware.

I hope some day to have a small wood kiln in my backyard, so I can control the results better...

Thank you both for the links. Larsdatter.com appears to be an excellent site, I can't believe that I didn't know about it before now.

Alric, those look great! The remnants of the wooden cups seem to share similar features as some of your pieces. That certainly helps me with the cup design.

I don't know if you're at all interested in glass, but if you are: the British Museum has a research publication titled "A Catalogue of Anglo-Saxon Glass in the British Museum" available for download here: http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/r ... tions.aspx

It includes descriptions, color photos, and maps showing the distribution of finds.

Bertana wrote:I don't know if you're at all interested in glass, but if you are: the British Museum has a research publication titled "A Catalogue of Anglo-Saxon Glass in the British Museum" available for download here: http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/r ... tions.aspx

It includes descriptions, color photos, and maps showing the distribution of finds.

Awesome site for glass, thx!!

Alric,
Great looking pottery.

Sincerely,
EikBrandr

The Mead Hall- Feasting in Anglo-Saxon England, by Stephen Pollington
ISBN 1-898281-30-0
There is a weatlh of info in this book, including a fork on one end and spoon on the other deal that looks like a lot of fun!
Wished I'd seen the pics of the pottery before my potter called me for specs!

I really want two of these maple cups from Sutton Hoo (even without the silver!).

http://news.webshots.com/photo/28097960 ... 2989hAeBVo