My take on a 10th Century Magyar tarsoly pouch

[Tracker]

The tarsoly was a highly decorated belt pouch carried by the nobility of the steppes of Eastern Europe. I've been wanting to make a tarsoly for a long time, ever since I was pointed to this link:

http://www.tarsolyosok.hu/eng/atarsoly.htm

The original pouches are beautiful. I lack the metal skills and tools to do the any justice to the original pieces, so I simply hammered some texture onto thick copper sheet (12ga) and rivetted them on. I wans't too worried about exactly matching a period decoration as there is a lot of variety in on the period pieces but I loosely based the copper plates I added on these pouches:

http://www.tarsolyosok.hu/eng/karosi11.htm

http://www.tarsolyosok.hu/eng/budapesti.htm

It was actually pretty difficult to find any good information about the original construction techniques and I couldn't find any patterns besides the basic shape of the existing pieces, so I ended up spending more time trying to dig up information and agonizing over details than I did actually building the thing.

It is 6ish ounce vegtan leather hand stitched with an awl and linen thread covered with numerous pieces of 12ga copper sheet hammered to add texture, remove the overly shiny finish, and match the pieces I put on my girlfriend's belt.

Here's mine, tell me what you think.

[tashabear]

Really lovely! How much does it weigh?

[TomSwede]

That's a cool purse Tracker!

Never heards of the Tarsoly before so I'm glad you showed us your piece. I also managed to found some info on Kiev vikings at Tarsolybearers. Highly appreciated.

Even tough lacking metal skills it'll be very nice when finished. Are you pursuing the skills to do the metal work later on?

Welcome to the board and hope we see more like this from you!

Tom

[Tracker]

It weighs just under a pound, which is somewhat heavy for something that hangs from a belt.

I tried to do a front plate in repousse & chasing, but the copper is a bit too thick to work without a pitch pot and proper tools. I'm going to try to find some thinner copper (maybe 18ga) and go from there.

There were actually a bunch of similarly styled purses found all over the Viking-influenced areas. This is one found on the island of Birka in Sweden:

[calanneh]

Looks great Tracker!

I an't wait to see more of your work. Keep it up!!

cal

[TomSwede]

It weighs just under a pound, which is somewhat heavy for something that hangs from a belt.

I tried to do a front plate in repousse & chasing, but the copper is a bit too thick to work without a pitch pot and proper tools. I'm going to try to find some thinner copper (maybe 18ga) and go from there.

There were actually a bunch of similarly styled purses found all over the Viking-influenced areas. This is one found on the island of Birka in Sweden:

That's news!

I've done some digging in the vikingage but never heard of this, at least not that I can remember.

Just know about the usual ones hanging on the back from the belt.

I'm thinking about Scottish sporrans perhaps they're related too.

Tom

[BradB]

I started looking at these after reading this post and ran across this site that sells buckles and mounts etc... Pretty cool!!

http://www.urweg.com/list/pouches.html

[tashabear]

I started looking at these after reading this post and ran across this site that sells buckles and mounts etc... Pretty cool!!

http://www.urweg.com/list/pouches.html

Urweg's stuff is GORGEOUS but pricey. I covet a set of their women's pierced brooches, but I can't afford them. Take a look at Raymond's Quiet Press if you're looking for historic metal bits at reasonable prices: http://www.quietpress.com

[Tracker]

I also covet Urweg's stuff, but I am not that rich, heh.

The belt my girlfriend is putting the pouch on actually has some items from Raymond's. She's using this buckle from them and some pieces I made from copper:

[Happycrow]

Tracker,

The metal you're using looks thick compared to what I've seen in museums (I'm a medievalist specializing in Hungary)... that might be adding to the weight.

(As a historical side detail, the Scandinavian and Hungarian worlds got along famously, so yes, you see a lot of connections there, and eventually in what becomes the Rus, taking bits from both until they have their own very distinct style.)

Oh. For those of you who don't do the language, Hungarian pronunciation can be counter-intuitive... it's pronounced TAR-shoy.

Edited October 19, 2008 by Happycrow

[RuehlLeatherWorks]

Looks good. I was going to say that it looks a lot like the Birka pouches, but someone beat me to it!

[Tracker]

The metal is pretty thick. The next one I make I'm going to try some repousse techniques on thinner metal to make some sort of designs. The pattern for it worked well and I've gotten good feedback on it, so I want to make another, better version.