10thC Baltic Viking Seax Sheath

[AlexOstacchini]

Hi all, here is a recently completed order which was a bit of a first for me. This is a 10th Century Baltic style sheath for a Viking seax. The knife itself is not one of mine, but made by my friend at pitstone forge who specialises in pattern welded stuff from this era. For the sheath the main reference was an original from the Valsgarde graves in Sweden, with tooling patterns adapted from another in Norway from the same period. The one I copied has different designs on both sides, with the fancier stuff on the front. 

I am a little ignorant about very early medieval knives so there was a big research phase involved, in which it turns out that tooling was done purely by impressing into the leather and not by cutting and bevelling like you see on later medieval and modern stuff. The patterns were therefore made using a scribe and defined with modelling tools, but the swivel knife stayed in its drawer for this one!

The sheath is formed from 3mm veg tan, and is held together only by the riveted brass clasps along the edge. The metalwork on this actually took a lot longer than the leather did, with lots of punched/chiselled decoration and little stepped cut-outs. The straps are speculative as I couldn't find much on how they were worn, but is functional and makes use of the three hanging points that the original had. 

I hope you like it! Alex

 

[DieselTech]

Beautiful piece. Work of art I must say. Outstanding work!

[MarshalWill]

Wow, that is outstanding! Beautiful work.

[fredk]

Superb. Thats a cracker

[NatesLeatherGds]

Gorgeous

[Dwight]

Beautiful leather and metal work . . . but I'd love to see the knife

May God bless,

Dwight

[Handstitched]

That is beautiful  work, the colours really do stand out  

HS

[DJole]

Ooh, that's a lovely piece of work! That's a knife fit for a thegn!

[Harry Marinakis]

Period correct AND gorgeous

[Sinbad395]

That is one awesome piece of work.  The details are so precise.

[AlexOstacchini]

Thanks everyone

15 hours ago, Dwight said:

Beautiful leather and metal work . . . but I'd love to see the knife

Here you go, A lovely pattern welded piece by my friend.  

[Dwight]

Absolutely beautiful . . . thanks for the look

May God bless,

Dwight

[MarshalWill]

That is a fine piece. The knife and sheath are a very nice combination.

[ThisIsMyFirstRodeo]

Beauty. Already in the mental Rolodex for inspiration! 

[Brokenolmarine]

Awesome work by you both.  I have an antique knife or two in my collection, I might have to try and make a sheath for them.  I don't know if mine would be period correct... Just fun.