10-15-2014, 12:10 PM
I didn't want to comment in your other thread for fear of sabotaging your sale. It looks wonderful but I'm not sure about the wax. It is good for waterproofing leather - In medieval Europe it was used on bottles and containers but there are two main arguments against the use of wax on armour:
1. It lubricates the weapon and helps the point pass through more easily.
2. A lot of leather armour was decorated in paint and/or gesso; it is impossible to apply these decorations to wax-hardened leather.
It seems that leather armour was strengthened either by water hardening or by baking it in an oven. A good reference is: Chris Dobson, "As Tough as Old Boots? A Study of Hardened Leather Armour, Part 1: Techniques of Manufacture", IAA Conference Proceedings, 2003.
Personally I think that the spolas was strengthened simply by adding more layers of leather in the chest.
1. It lubricates the weapon and helps the point pass through more easily.
2. A lot of leather armour was decorated in paint and/or gesso; it is impossible to apply these decorations to wax-hardened leather.
It seems that leather armour was strengthened either by water hardening or by baking it in an oven. A good reference is: Chris Dobson, "As Tough as Old Boots? A Study of Hardened Leather Armour, Part 1: Techniques of Manufacture", IAA Conference Proceedings, 2003.
Personally I think that the spolas was strengthened simply by adding more layers of leather in the chest.
Author: Bronze Age Military Equipment, Pen & Sword Books
