Shield cover appliques

[Crispvs]

Whilst I am aware that many re-enactors put pieces of coloured cloth behind the openwork appliques on their shield covers to make the detail stand out, I am led to believe that cloth has yet to be identified on shield covers. I occurs to me that cloth inserts would to rot over time, hastened by bad weather during campaigns or route marches and could end up looking very ragged or non-existent long before the end of a shield cover's useful life. What, if any, evdence is there for coloured leather in place of the assumed cloth? A leather insert could be expected to last the full life of a shield cover and could, I believe, be coloured in a number of ways to contrast with the rest of the cover. Whilst I would expect that any preserved examples would now be the same colour as any other piece of leather which has lain in peat for nineteen centuries, their presence could be established by the existence of an openwork applique backed with another piece of leather. My question therefore is: has such a piece been found?<br>
I await the responses of those who know.<br>
<br>
Crispvs <p></p><i></i>