Notebook Bag

[Martin Moser]

Martin, a little bit OT but, does Schultze's paper deal with Late Roman belts?

Not really, all you get are the metal parts from the two graves as explained above.

I have both articles in digital form, so if anyone's interested let me know ...

[aitor iriarte]

Martin, you shouldn't have said that...
Many thanks in advance!

Aitor

[Doc]

I was wondering about the dimensions that Martin gave for that supposed wax tablet pouch. Initially the dimensions given by Martin were 15 x 11.5 x 5 cm. Then later, Caballo mentions something about a 1:2 scale making the dimensions 28cm, and a width of 7 cm.

So are Martins dimensions for the Vindonissa pouch and Caballo's for the Vindolanda pouch OR Caballo's numbers are the actual dimensions while Martin's are incorrect.


Was goat leather used or cow leather. I would like to make a pouch for my wax tablets and would like to know the dimensions and the type of leather.

Thank you in advance.

[markusaurelius]

great work!!

[Martin Moser]

Hi,

sorry to be a bit late with my answer ...

I was wondering about the dimensions that Martin gave for that supposed wax tablet pouch. Initially the dimensions given by Martin were 15 x 11.5 x 5 cm. Then later, Caballo mentions something about a 1:2 scale making the dimensions 28cm, and a width of 7 cm.

I followed the measurements of the Vindonissa find (incomplete original overall size is 38,2 x 11,2 according to the article): This works out for the finished piece, whose front closing flap form is taken from the Vindolanda find, to a size of ca. 15 x 11.5 x 5 cm. For my reconstruction I did not take the Vindolanda measurements into account.

Was goat leather used or cow leather. I would like to make a pouch for my wax tablets and would like to know the dimensions and the type of leather.

Original was calf, I used sheep, 1-1.5mm thick. Generally we know that the Romans used sheep, cattle, and goat extensively. Undoubtedly this was influenced by what was predominantly available in the area, especially where, like in this piece, the construction or purpose did not call for the quality characteristics of one specific type of leather, as it is the case here.

Hope this helps :-) )

[Doc]

Martin,

Thanks for the response. However, with respect to your answer I am not entirely sure what you mean. It could be since I have a 40C fever, that I am not exactly all the clear when I am reading.

"I followed the measurements of the Vindonissa find (incomplete original overall size is 38,2 x 11,2 according to the article): This works out for the finished piece, whose front closing flap form is taken from the Vindolanda find, to a size of ca. 15 x 11.5 x 5 cm. For my reconstruction I did not take the Vindolanda measurements into account."

Are you saying that the original size from top to bottom of the unfolded pouch (as in the picture of the original ) measured 38,2 X 11,2 but when you put the notebook bag together where you fold the pouch and sew the edges, the overall final size for the front part of the body is 15 cm and the back part including the flap make up the remaning 23 or so cm? Thus it gives a width of 5cm?

Thanks

[Martin Moser]

Hi Paolo,

"incomplete original overall size is 38,2 x 11,2" refers to the size of the find, which is roughly front, bottom and back. Cover and flap are missing. Front 15cm + bottom 5cm + back 15cm + a bit of the missing rest make for the 38,2 cm overall, with a width of 11,2 cm.
The side panels are missing completely, their width of ca. 5cm is estimated from the gap between the front and back decoration. I hope this makes it clearer?

Hope you get well again really soon! All the best!

[Doc]

Hi Martin,

Thank you for the kind words.

The cover and flap are different? How?

With respect to the measurments, it makes it nearly all clear. Except, the cover and flap are missing so how longer must the back be beyond its 15cm to come over to the front.

Sorry for the number of questions. I really appreciate your help.

[Martin Moser]

The cover and flap are different? How?

Not really, I used 2 words for the same thing more or less. See red framed part in pic below. Part framed in blue is the back, 15 x 5cm.

With respect to the measurments, it makes it nearly all clear. Except, the cover and flap are missing so how longer must the back be beyond its 15cm to come over to the front.

I cut 3 pieces: 2x: 15 x 5cm, 1x: 47 x 11.5cm
The cover/flap makes up the last 12cm of the large rectangle: 15 (front) + 5 (bottom) + 15 (back) + 12 (flap) = 47cm.



Hope that makes it clear.

[M. Demetrius]

This is a very beautiful work of leather craftsmanship and it looks to be just right for wax tablets. But why all the extra stitching? It doesn't seem to serve any functional purpose I can see. Lots of labor for only decorative appearance?

[Doc]

Martin,

Thank you so much for your help. I really appreciate it. You have made it clear.

Furthermore, I have to agree with David, that you work is purely beautiful.

[Martin Moser]

But why all the extra stitching? It doesn't seem to serve any functional purpose I can see. Lots of labor for only decorative appearance?

Hi Dave,

good question - we know from many (mostly fragmentary) finds that the Romans simply seem to have enjoyed decorative stitching. With some pieces the extra stitching may have served the extra purpose of holding some lining in place, but we do not know if that was the case here. And on a grander scale think about scabbards, hilts, belt plates, (gladiator) helmets, you-name-it ... lots of labor for only decorative appearance everywhere.
I guess in pre-TV times people just had to get their visual overload from somewhere else ;-) )