Pennsic Planning - Leatherworking Classes

With less than a month to Pennsic, I'm trying to pull together a tentative list of the various activities I want to do. This year we have decided to try to go for a bit more balance, instead of spending all of our time on the battlefields. We always make these big long lists of classes and get to only one or two. Since Pennsic is one of the only places where you can learn some of these things hands-on, we want to try to focus a bit more on knowledge and skill development this year.

With that in mind, I've gone through the Pennsic University list and there are a number of leatherworking classes I hope to take. A few of them are must-do's and then there are some other nice-to-have's.

Here's my list so far, with * marking the priority classes:

* Making a 16th Century Stick Purse
* Leather Tooling - The History and Application
Anglo-Saxon Ring Pouch
German Pouches: 1500-1540
* Cuirboulli: Water Hardened Leather Armor
Glovemaking - Elizabethan

Also, the Artisan's Row has two leatherworking days planned where you can pop by, hang out with experienced leatherworkers and ask questions/try things out. The first day is the Thursday we arrive, so that may not work. The second day is the Wednesday of war week, so I may be able to fit it in since there are no battles that day.

I also have a bunch of other courses on other topics (arrow-making, cooking, thrown weapons etc) so I think its going to be another busy Pennsic, even without the war point battles.

I plan to take notes at my classes and will post here after we get back (or from Mystic Mail if I have time on-site).

Project Update and Pictures - Thora's Rapier Sheath

Over the past few days, I've been working on making progress on Thora's rapier sheath that she's asked me for. I had run the design idea by her a few weeks ago but hadn't really had time to get started on crafting it.

She's looking for a rapier sheath that will have either an Ealdormere or Skrael symbol on it for when she moves out west in the fall.Given my previous work on the Ealdormere populace badge, I suggested that would make a good rapier sheath.

So over the past few days I cut out the leather piece, marked out the divisions for the design and carved the badge. I then started the process of colouring it. Now that it's all dyed, it will just be a matter of assembly, which shouldn't take too long.

Here's the process so far:

Swivel knife work cutting out the pattern

Backgrounding filled in around the pattern

Pattern bevelled and stamped

Dyeing of the pattern done

Dyeing and carving complete. Some assembly required.

New project - Baronial and Kingdom badges

For those who have been reading my blog regularly, I have an confession. I keep adding new projects to my list. It's true, I guess I just keep getting these "bright" ideas and want to work on them. At least I don't have to worry about running out of things to do. :)

When I was taking my leather carving class, I developed a carving pattern of the Ealdormere populace badge (pictures are posted on an earlier blog post). This got me to thinking, if I want to keep working on my leather carving skills, I should really keep practicing. If I'm going to practice, wouldn't it make sense to practice with designs that I might actually use in an SCA context, rather than the typical flower designs and such in the pattern books?

So with that in mind, I'm going to start trying to figure out carving patterns for the various awards in Ealdormere and Skraeling Althing. Ultimately, I'll be able to use them to decorate various projects in the future if I'm making things as a gift. Some, like the Maiden's Heart, will be fairly easy. Some of the others are more complicated (I'm not really looking forward to figuring out how to carve the wolves on the Scarlet Banner).

Pictures of the badges at the Kingdom level are found here: http://www.ealdormere.ca//index.php/awards

At the Baronial level I've sent a note to our Baronial Persuivant to see if there are images available. I know it was being worked on a few years ago but not sure if it ever got finished.

I suspect this will be one of those ongoing projects that just pops up occasionally. I'll post pictures as I work on it and will tag the posts with "badges" so people can look for updates.

New Library Addition

Thanks to my lovely wife Lady Avelyn, I have a new addition to my leatherworking library. One of the key books from a research perspective that I was missing was "Knives and Scabbards (Medieval Finds from Excavations in London)". Missing no more, since as an early birthday present it has now been added to the collection.

I haven't had a chance to look through it yet, but I'm sure there's going to be lots of interesting information.

From a recreating the objects point of view, I don't think you can beat the Goubitz books ("Purses in Pieces" and "Stepping Through Time") just because of the quality of his illustrations and the fact that he often shows you the shapes for the actual leather patterns to make the object, but these Museum of London books (I also have "Shoes and Pattens") seem to have a lot of historical research in them that could be useful.

The title has been added to my LibraryThing list in the right-hand column of the blog if you'd like to see what else is on my leatherworking bookshelf.

Research Links - Money Changer's Stick-Purse

This is a link dump of URLs for paintings, woodcuts and other illustrations of the stick-purse for ease of printing later. Some may go a bit later than period but I'll pick and choose what I use once I'm pulling together my documentation. A lot of these sources will likely be similar to those that Mistress Elizabeth has used for her class notes.

1) Vanitas Still Life
Edwaert Collier
Post-period (dated 1662)
http://www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/110000351#fullscreen

2) The Rich Man from the Parable (Moneychanger)
Rembrandt
Post-Period (dated 1627)
http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/rembrandt/the-rich-man-from-the-parable-1627

3) The Moneylender
Gerrit Dou
Post-Period (1664)
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gerard_Dou_-_The_Moneylender_-_WGA06649.jpg or
http://www.backtoclassics.com/gallery/gerritdou/themoneylender/

4) The Miser
Hendrick Gerritsz Pot
Post Period (1640's)
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hendrick_Gerritsz_Pot_-_The_Miser_-_WGA18198.jpg

5) Old woman with a candle
Matthias Stomer
Post Period (1640's)
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Matthias_Stom_-_Old_Woman_with_a_Candle_-_WGA21809.jpg

6) The Moneychanger and His Wife
Marinus van Reymerswale
In-Period (1539)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Marinus_Claesz._van_Reymerswaele_001.jpg

7) The Banker and his Wife
Marinus van Reymerswale
In-Period (1500's)
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Marinus_van_Reymerswale_-_The_Banker_and_His_Wife_-_WGA19323.jpg or

8) Beware of Luxury
Jan Steen
Post-Period (1665)
http://www.museumsyndicate.com/item.php?item=871

9) Avarice
Workshop of Abraham Bloemaert
Post-Period (1625)
http://www.philamuseum.org/collections/permanent/79914.html?mulR=3616%7C5 (engraving) or
http://www.photo.rmn.fr/cf/htm/CSearchZ.aspx?o=&Total=52&FP=63049854&E=2K1KTSGGIE2LU&SID=2K1KTSGGIE2LU&New=T&Pic=37&SubE=2C6NU034B3@Q

10) Woodcuts & Pictures of Extant Examples
Goubitz reproduces woodcuts from Brugel and Amman in Purses in Pieces but I am still looking for links. He also has pictures of the two remaining examples of the purses, found in the Neatherlands.
In-Period (1500's)

Update: Dec 2012

11) Backgammon spelend paar,
Jacob Matham
In Period (1600)
https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/RP-P-OB-27.054

Planning my research - money changer's stick-purse

So I've been putting some thought into how I want to go about the work on my next Kingdom A&S project - the money-lender's stick-purse. Given all of my other projects I don't think it will be ready for this year's A&S event, but who knows.

Other than Purses in Pieces and a few period paintings, there is very little information about the stick-purse that I've been able to find. However, I had a really lucky discovery last week in stumbling on the LiveJournal of Mistress Elizabeth Vynehorn of the East Kingdom (http://vynehorn.livejournal.com/) who, it turns out, has already done some research into the stick-purse and developed a Pennsic class on how to make them. She's actually planning on teaching it at Pennsic this year, so that will be going on my to-do list for sure. Mistress Elizabeth was kind enough to share her course notes with me, which totally rocks. I'm looking forward to the class.

Now, what I need to figure out is some of the details of how I want to go about recreating the purse.

Based on my comments from last Kingdom A&S, there were no real concerns with my research. I got very high marks there. The comments were in two main areas:

1. Non-period materials being used
2. Cleanness of the detail work

I'll do my best to fix up the second point but a lot of that is going to come as I get more experienced with leatherworking techniques. But I can do something about the first point, so I think that's where I'm going to focus.

Mistress Elizabeth's class notes revealed some interesting info that she got directly from the one museum on the Netherlands that has a surviving stick-purse. I think I'll likely send the museum an e-mail and see if I can get a bit more information about the specific materials used for their purse to supplement what Mistress Elizabeth provided.

I'd like to know if they can tell me anything about the thickness and type of the leather used (for both the pouches and the handle braiding), whether there is any evidence of colouring or other ornamentation (which would confirm the artistic renditions that can be found in period paintings) and any information about the measurements of the various components so that I can get the scale of the handle and pouches as close as possible.

On the assumption that the period paintings are accurate, I've started doing some research into period leather dyes to verify what colours would have been available in the period for leather. I may not be able to use actual period dyes (I have some recipes but not sure I want to go there yet) but I can probably replicate some of the colour tones by watering down some of my modern water-based dyes so they give a more translucent colour. That will help with the judging I think, as they had concerns about my use of chrome-tanned leather with a colour that wasn't entirely period.

I think I'll do as much research as possible pre-Pennsic, and then I can focus on construction after I've taken the course and hopefully heard back from the museum.

Leg Armour Modifications

While Avelyn has bought some new metal knee armour we haven't figured out how we want to mount them yet. We'll probably wait until she has her new padded gambeson and pants ready and then work it out for her new armour.

In the interim, we've decided to modify her old leg armour to make it easier for her to armour up. Right now all of the straps buckle behind her legs, making it almost impossible for her to get into her armour on her own given how bulky it is.

Last night I popped the rivets on all of the leg straps and moved the buckles so that they are at the front. It increases the chances of her getting hit on a buckle a bit, but it also will hopefully mean she can actually get out on the field more often to get hit in the first place. :)

Of course, by moving the buckles, the straps themselves needed to be replaced since they are not long enough any more, so that all got done as well. Tonight after the Canton meeting, I'll get her to put them on so I can figure out where to punch the holes in the straps, and where to trim the straps so they don't dangle too much.

I also checked all of the other straps and lacing and everything seems to be holding up well. The kidney belt I made is definitely doing the job, so it's possible we'll re-use it for the new legs. She's been using this set-up with very few repairs for at least three years now so I'm pretty happy with its durability.