Late Roman leatherwork

[Theodosius the Great]

Avete,

I've heard that based on archeological finds in Danish bogs that Late Roman belts and baldrics were sewen from two pieces of leather with the smoothe sides facing outward.

Can anyone confirm this ?

I'm trying to reconstruct this belt and baldric :





If the belts are made from two separate pieces of leather sewen together, what ounce (or how thick) should each piece of leather be ?

Thank you for any insights anyone can offer..

[Sassanid]

Hi,

The belt shown is late 2nd century at best (194-197AD at the latest) and the baldric is not much later.

On the construction, yes they are often made with two piece of thin leather (say 1mm thick), smooth side out. The edges are folded over though, making the whole thing about 4mm at the edges. The inside is padded out with linen or some sort of material. Stitching holds the whole thing together. As well as the edge stitching, intricate patterns are often added for decoration.

Andrew

[Theodosius the Great]

Andrew,

Do you suppose glue was also used to keep the whole thing together ?

And are you saying that the belt and baldric should have the same thickness ?

Thanks...

[Sassanid]

No glue was used as far as I know. Probably would affect the belts suppleness

Yes I would would go for the same thickness for both, but I don't suppose there was any rule. They could have been made at different times, by different craftsmen