Medieval Knife Sheaths (and knives)

[AlexOstacchini]

Thanks again all! These are my first attempts really both at knives and this style of sheath- hopefully lots more to come!

 

6 hours ago, robs456 said:

And at this time, did the leatherworkers decorate or was it done by the users themselves? Evidence point to the latter, but for me it makes more sense if it was a selling point....

I have no doubt both occured, but I would think probably leatherworkers as they apparently had their own independant sheath guild from at least the mid 1300s. I am mostly familiar with the London examples which is obviously a limited pool to go off, but a fair number have stamped decoration which in my mind points to them being done professionally- Some of the stamps are really quite intricate and must have been quite specialised tools so i wouldn't have thought it likely to have been owned by anyone otherwise. That is purely speculative on my part and I am definitely no expert. That being said there are other examples that are very crudely decorated. 

I wasn't aware of the book you mentioned, but it looks great and I might just have to order a copy as i'd love to know more about this. My main reference material for this sort of thing is 'knives and scabbards', which i'm sure you'll know about already but is really an excellent book if you don't. It mentions cutting the leather (or incising i think is the term used) was very popular in the 14th-15th centuries, but does not show many examples where this is the case...  

 

cheers!

Alex

[robs456]

5 minutes ago, AlexOstacchini said:

but a fair number have stamped decoration which in my mind points to them being done professionally

OK goody, seems my timeline on the Spanish/Moors is wrong, back to study...

5 minutes ago, AlexOstacchini said:

I wasn't aware of the book you mentioned, but it looks great and I might just have to order a copy as i'd love to know more about this. My main reference material for this sort of thing is 'knives and scabbards', which i'm sure you'll know about already but is really an excellent book if you don't.

I managed to get a PDF of it from Googling, seemed legit too but don't remember the source.
I've heard about 'Knives and Scabbards' but never had a look as I'm more interested in the nordic/scandinavian decorations (how I found the book/pdf...).

 

 

[wizard of tragacanth]

Very nice work... and quite interesting. I had no idea that "eating knives" were a thing... other than a table knife, as we know it.

nick

Edited October 15, 2019 by wizard of tragacanth
you know

[Peter Darby]

I like it.   I do a lot of medieval style sheaths.  Below is one I did for an exhibit of the various styles of stitching they used in constructing their sheaths.  I find it fascinating puzzling out how they did there backstitching.  Sometimes, as yours shows they stitched them up the back and sometimes they stitched them on the side then turned them.  Often I find that the way they did things is better than what we do now.  I use a Hedeby style quiver worn as a back quiver and have converted many an archer from the bandoleer style  the Viking (or Arabic) style quiver.  I look forward to seeing more of your work.

[HondoMan]

To revive a 5 years old topic....

What would the job or title of the craftsman who made knife sheaths?  Can't seem to find that wee piece of info.

Pouchemaker?  Girdler?  Glover?  Loriner?  Saddler?  Most like no to all. 

I've often wondered who, in the 12th-16th Centuries, made things like knife sheaths and scabbards, arm cuffs, and the odd things the above didn't make.

Ideas or thoughts?

[fredk]

Try Cutler. He finished off knives from the black smith.ready for sale and it seemed it included the sheaths 

[AlexOstacchini]

16 hours ago, HondoMan said:

To revive a 5 years old topic....

What would the job or title of the craftsman who made knife sheaths?  Can't seem to find that wee piece of info.

Pouchemaker?  Girdler?  Glover?  Loriner?  Saddler?  Most like no to all. 

I've often wondered who, in the 12th-16th Centuries, made things like knife sheaths and scabbards, arm cuffs, and the odd things the above didn't make.

Ideas or thoughts?

No worries, I recently finished a big batch of medieval knives and sheaths and this reminds me I should upload a few newer pictures, they have come on a bit since these two.

In terms of who made them I don't have any of my references handy at present but I believe 'sheather' was its own separate profession- Googling this doesn't' bring up much but a bit of digging and you will find it mentioned. I have certainly read this somewhere in a breakdown of the various guilds involved in making a knife. As FredK mentions cutler seems to be the one that effectively commissioned the various components and assembled them into a finished product. 

There is a fantastic book called 'Covering the Blade' which deals purely with this subject, and 'Knives and scabbards' is another I would recommend. I suspect I would have read about specialist sheath makers in one of those.