11-25-2011, 04:03 AM
Hi Andreas,
I may have mistaken what you say - but there isn't a leather layer -- the linen is painted and waxed. I did think about fitting the clasps to something else before attaching them to the linen, but it just seemed too complicated. The metal staples on the back of the clasps are not a problem at all -- the lacings that I use - provide enough of a barrier. You are right about the bling -- perhaps I should have embroidered the front?
Dan,
I am afraid that I don't follow you at all when you say, "This logic assumes that the maker had some shoulder clasps lying around and decided to make some armour that would fit them." I don't know why you would assume that. The clasps are a fact, as Andreas says, so are the fittings that are on them. The garment that I have made isn't - it's an experiment to try and see how the clasps may have worked. In practice, it works very well - whether it is what they were doing in the 6th/7th century, I don't know and it may be that we never will. It would be handy if there were other, similar grave finds with the textiles intact.
We can't really know what was in the maker's mind when he made them or of the mind of their potential owner, either. Don't get hung up on the suggestion of Noel's that there is only 1.5 mms to play with it -- it isn't so. I am not sure how thick the linen is exactly immediately under the clasps, but is more than that. What happens is that the lacing goes up into the holes made for the staples and then returns through the textile. As long as the lacings are kept under tension there is no problem and they cannot be cut from outside the garment.
As for whether you would call layers of textiles 'armour' or not is another matter entirely -- it certainly is quite protective.
Paul
I may have mistaken what you say - but there isn't a leather layer -- the linen is painted and waxed. I did think about fitting the clasps to something else before attaching them to the linen, but it just seemed too complicated. The metal staples on the back of the clasps are not a problem at all -- the lacings that I use - provide enough of a barrier. You are right about the bling -- perhaps I should have embroidered the front?
Dan,
I am afraid that I don't follow you at all when you say, "This logic assumes that the maker had some shoulder clasps lying around and decided to make some armour that would fit them." I don't know why you would assume that. The clasps are a fact, as Andreas says, so are the fittings that are on them. The garment that I have made isn't - it's an experiment to try and see how the clasps may have worked. In practice, it works very well - whether it is what they were doing in the 6th/7th century, I don't know and it may be that we never will. It would be handy if there were other, similar grave finds with the textiles intact.
We can't really know what was in the maker's mind when he made them or of the mind of their potential owner, either. Don't get hung up on the suggestion of Noel's that there is only 1.5 mms to play with it -- it isn't so. I am not sure how thick the linen is exactly immediately under the clasps, but is more than that. What happens is that the lacing goes up into the holes made for the staples and then returns through the textile. As long as the lacings are kept under tension there is no problem and they cannot be cut from outside the garment.
As for whether you would call layers of textiles 'armour' or not is another matter entirely -- it certainly is quite protective.
Paul
Paul Mortimer
