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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
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before stitching:
stitching on its way:
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Martin, your works never cease to amaze me. Based on those tools in the last picture, this must be a very wide belt, too?
Marcus Julius Germanus
m.k.a. Brian Biesemeyer
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Quote: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)
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Awesome! Very nice belt, Martin.
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Beautiful, and great craftsmanship as ever. What sort of buckle was found with it?
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Quote: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 ...
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Wow, the Gommern belt! I AM impressed! Great work Martin! hock:
Florian Himmler (not related!)
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Your work is always so amazing!
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Awesome work Martin! (yet again!)
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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
It\'s all an accident, an accident of hands. Mine, others, all without mind, from one extreme to another, but neither works nor will ever.
Rolf Steiner
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Quote: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.
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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
It\'s all an accident, an accident of hands. Mine, others, all without mind, from one extreme to another, but neither works nor will ever.
Rolf Steiner
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Quote: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.
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About 100m of yarn and many many stitches later:
Next to do is to make the buckles ...
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