Germanic belt, 3rd century AD

[Martin Moser]

Since working on shoes only would drive me crazy, I started a reconstruction of a belt from the 3rd century AD, found in the grave of what was most probably a Germanic nobleman. Plus I wanted to try working with gold leaf for some time now anyway :-) )

Still a lot of work left, but here are a few pics of the first steps:

the 3 layers of the belt:



preparing the gilding:



gilded middle layer

[Martin Moser]

before stitching:



stitching on its way:

[Marcus Julius]

Martin, your works never cease to amaze me. Based on those tools in the last picture, this must be a very wide belt, too?

[Martin Moser]

Based on those tools in the last picture, this must be a very wide belt, too?

Yes, surprisingly so. The belt is about 92 x 23 cms!

I also forgot about the sources:

Gold für die Ewigkeit. Das germanische Fürstengrab von Gommern, Katalog zur Sonderausstellung in Halle 2000

Breuer, Heiko. Die Restaurierung des Gürtels aus dem "Fürstengrab" von Gommern. - Arbeitsblätter für Restauratoren, Gruppe 6, Leder, Mainz, 1993, S. 96-99.

Marzena J. Przybyla. Ein Prachtgürtel aus dem Grab 1 von Wroclaw-Zakrzow (Sakrau) - Ein Rekonstruktionsversuch. - Archäologisches Korrespondenzblatt 35, 2005, Mainz, 105-122.

and personal communication with Dr. Becker, Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte Halle (Saale)

[jvrjenivs]

Awesome! Very nice belt, Martin.

[Caballo]

Beautiful, and great craftsmanship as ever. What sort of buckle was found with it?

[Martin Moser]

What sort of buckle was found with it?

3 relatively simple silver buckles, laid out evenly over the entire width of the belt. I'll post a pic as soon as I get around to ...

[Flavius Promotus]

Wow, the Gommern belt! I AM impressed! Great work Martin! hock:

[Senovara]

Your work is always so amazing!

[Peroni]

Awesome work Martin! (yet again!)

[aitor iriarte]

Impressing work as ever, Martin! hock:

For those of us who cannot have access to the original publications you quote, could you, please, upload a handful of pics of the original remains?

Were only Germanic items recovered from the tomb or were also some Roman ones? :?
Carol van Driel warned me some years ago about not falling in the trap of believing any beutiful item coming from Germania Libera as being of Roman origin, but I simply cannot help asking... :oops:

Aitor

[Martin Moser]

For those of us who cannot have access to the original publications you quote, could you, please, upload a handful of pics of the original remains?

Were only Germanic items recovered from the tomb or were also some Roman ones? :?

It is a mix of Roman imports and Germanic items. Interestingly the silver shield boss was worked from a decorated Roman silver drinking cup, on the inside the original decorative work is still partially visible.

Here is a pic of the belt, it was rolled up when found (the drawing is a bit misleading, the belt consists of 3 layers actually):



from Breuer, Heiko. Die Restaurierung des Gürtels aus dem "Fürstengrab" von Gommern. - Arbeitsblätter für Restauratoren, Gruppe 6, Leder, Mainz, 1993, p.98.

[aitor iriarte]

Many thanks, Martin!
I have rolled my own belt that way many times, either with the buckle outside or with the strap outside, like the Gommern belt was. :lol:
Is that very wide belt stiff enough as to be worn without suffering too much deformation? hock:

Aitor

[Martin Moser]

Is that very wide belt stiff enough as to be worn without suffering too much deformation?

Time will have to tell, Aitor :-) ) Of course the 3 layers + the stitching through them all adds a lot to stability as well. I expect it to be stiff enough in the end.

[Martin Moser]

About 100m of yarn and many many stitches later:



Next to do is to make the buckles ...