Galerie - Ironskin

Mail Bolero in 8mm rings with wedge rivets This a

Mail Bolero in 8mm rings with wedge rivets

This a work of Fabio Tideo from @valendiancrafts. He is an Italian artisan of many medieval crafts. Not only is it very inspiring to see his wood- and leather-works, but he will also show more details about this mail bolero soon.

This garment is basically a combination of short sleeves and a collar. It is designed to cover gaps under plate armor without additional weight or restriction of movement. I especially like that the collar hem is covered in leather and furthermore has lining lining on the inside.

Wasn't there a special name to call this? Who knows?

Pictures: Courtesy of @valendiancrafts.

Haubergeon in 6mm Baggy sleeves - the ultimate ni

Haubergeon in 6mm

Baggy sleeves - the ultimate nightmare of anyone loving chainmail. Don't you think? This haubergeon is intentionally build that way. It is following an Italian fashion from the Late Middle Ages / Renaissance.

There was still a lot of tailoring happening around the shoulders, hips and collar. With these adjustments the weight could be reduced to 8.3kg with improved mobility.

Work and pictures by Ironskin. Oil Painting of St. George (likely by Artist Sodoma, 16th century) as presented on dorotheum_com. Thank you at @seborstianb for modelling.

Mail Glove from the Swedish Royal Armouries This

Mail Glove from the Swedish Royal Armouries

This mail glove is made of a regular part of mail with rows running along with the fingers and a more dense part with rows running around the wrist. Both parts are connected by decorative latten rings.

In the closeup we can observe that seam: All latten rings hold 3 rings. Yet the rings from the top alternate between holding 4 or 5 rings.

There is no specific dating, yet I can imagine 16th-century or 15th-century. Some similar gloves were in use for fencing. Sometimes the mail was only on the inside of the hand to allow grabbing a blade.

Pictures by Livrustkammaren emuseumplus_lsh_se, Image Nr. DIG 19727. I artificially enhanced the color of the latten rings.

Mail-Armor of Leopold III, Duke of Austria This a

Mail-Armor of Leopold III, Duke of Austria

This armor was supposedly worn by the duke of Austria while he was trying to secure his influence in Switzerland. He died 1386 in the battle of Sempach, fighting against the old Swiss confederacy.

About the seals: First thing that meets the eye is the big brass plate with an Austrian Coat of Arms in red and silver. To the right of it, there is a small brass seal that reveals the origin of the armor. It has the Coat of Arms of the city of Nuremberg with an inscription: "STAT NVRMBERG" (City of Nuremberg).

About the construction:
The mail armor has a slit that reaches from the left armpit all the way down. It facilitates putting on the armor and can be closed with four buckles. Around the neck, there is a 4cm high collar that is manufactured twice as strong. The weight of the mail armor is 9kg. It is 77cm to 82cm high and 158cm wide.

About the rings: The rings are generally riveted & solid iron rings. Yet there but is a patch of riveted only weave in the back. The riveted rings are 4.7mm in inner diameter and 0.5mm strong. The solid rings are 3.8mm in diameter and 1.0 mm strong. Around the wrists, there are cuffs with 30 rows of brass rings. Similar rings are at the bottom hem. These brass rings were once gilded. On the left side, you can see all 30 rows. In the middle of the front, some brass rings are missing.

About the provenance: Inventory lists confirm the history of the armor back until 1629 and with less certainty to 1490. Chronicles say that Leopold III also had left behind a coat of arms. The textile found its way into a Dominican monastery where it was used as a chasuble - a religious clothing - until the monastery burned down in 1575.

The armor is housed at the Historic Museum Luzern, Switzerland. Picture and info from Verein Freunde des Historischen Museums Luzern respectively Josef Brülisauer.

Late 16th-century Hussar armor This very agile ar

Late 16th-century Hussar armor

This very agile armor is from 1580/90. It was worn by light cavalry units called hussars. Hussars earned a huge reputation in Poland, although similar troops were in use all over central and eastern Europe from the 15th- to the 18th-century. This example seems to be from the Austrian Imperial Army.

The mail is made of tiny rings with beautifully tapering sleeves. The sleeves appear extra long. That is because the mail is stretching more without a real arm inside.

Foto: UMJ/N.Lackner as shown on museum-joanneum_at. The Armor is exhibited in Landeszeughaus, Graz, Austria.

The Hauberk from Montenegro: First impressions...

The Hauberk from Montenegro: First impressions...

Deep in the mountains of Montenegro lies the town of Berane, which bears a rare and unique hauberk - arguably the only medieval hauberk with a coif attached.

The armor was said to be dug out of the ground in 1936 by a local man. He kept it in private until it was acquired by the regions museum in 1955. I went to see the armor to answer these questions:

Is the mail "authentic"?
Yes, the general impression is clearly pointing to a historic object of unspecified date, clearly not modern. The form of the sleeves and the shape of the rings make me think of a certain time frame. I would like to hear your unbiased thoughts first before I tell it in the next post..

Is the "coif" really attached? Yes, it is. It is firmly connected on at least four areas around the neck. The rings of the head part match those of the torso and there are no signs of retailoring in later times.

How is the tailoring? It appears very simple at first glance. More about that in future posts.

Thank you at @arms_armourana and Damir for translating, logistics, and for making me feel at home at any time. Without you, this would not have happened. A huge thank you goes to Mr. Obrandovich for trusting us with the opportunity to study the object. Furthermore, I feel very grateful to have had @nicholaschecksfield and @s.d.metcalf supporting me with their immense experience on the subjects. Some of what I observed or concluded was directly pointed out by you or only possible through your hints and advice. And in general, I am heavily inspired. Last but not least: Thank you to you people who are following here to explore this ancient craft and these objects! Only through you, I am in a position to see these things. You deserve to get to see more of this in a digestible way - especially when you read until here! Wow!

PS: It is not a bad idea to subscribe to the Ironskin channel on the video-platform with the red icon. There is a lot of video footage waiting to be uploaded.

Full mail armor in antiquity? Ok stop me if I sta

Full mail armor in antiquity?

Ok stop me if I start imagining things: On this Thracian treasure from the 4th-century BC we see a horseman in scale armor. His legs and arms are covered in crossing lines. At least in early medieval artwork we could interpret that as mail armor. Perhaps this is also true here.

What makes me support that thought is the lace that is running zigzag around the raised arm. Laces are very useful to fasten mail. What do you think? If that is mail armor, then I'm quite impressed that this warrior has all of his arms and legs covered in it.

This treasure from Letnica is held as inventory number 589 in the Lovech Historical Museum in Sofia, Bulgaria. Photo by Nikolai Genov. bulgarianheritage_bulgariana_eu The Thracians were people living mainly in the Balkans/eastern Europe.

Mail Vest with V-shaped bottom It looks as if thi

Mail Vest with V-shaped bottom

It looks as if this vest was once cut open along a vertical line through the front. You can still observe that the rings along this line have less rust.

The weave of rings is very dense with a mix of rounded riveted rings and flat bulky solid rings. At the mentioned vertical line there is a transition: rows of solid rings change into riveted rings and vice versa. This is actually a needed element to construct the armpit. Typically I would place this transition line at the top of the shoulders or below the armpits.

This piece is said to be European late 16th-century. We have seen such super flat rings on some Russian mail shirts in earlier posts here. And a cut-open front was used a lot in Ottoman mail armor. This example seems a bit unfamiliar to me. It might have had sleeves at some point. I haven't come across many sleeveless vests so far.

Picture by Worldantiques-Antiques shared via Pinterest. You find more images and info about this in posts from @mustonenpeter from 13th of February 2020 and from 21st of May 2018.

Mail-Gauntlet made from fragments This object fro

Mail-Gauntlet made from fragments

This object from the Cleveland Museum of Art is labeled as 15th-century. Yet we have reason to be skeptical: Some of the rings might be from that time, but the glove is put together from at least five different mail-fragments. The fragments are connected by butted rings. You can differentiate the parts by color and ring size from far and by the ring shape in closeup.

We see wedge rivets and pin rivets, riveted-solid weaves, and riveted-only weaves. Some rings have round and other flat crosssections. There are some additional butted brass rings that seem to have formed a decorative element. It's almost as if the glove is a demonstration piece for chainmail variety. I'm speculating that the glove was built by a 19th- or 20th-century antiquity dealer or collector, using mail patches from various sources.

This is item 1916.1901.a. In the online collection of clevelandart_org, you can study the high-resolution image yourself. Original image by Cleveland Museum of Art. Collage by Ironskin.

For some of you, this is just a fun side project.

For some of you, this is just a fun side project. For others it is an opportunity to learn about mail tailoring:

This egg has a vertical seam right in the center of the image. It is not just an ordinary expansion of the mail pattern - no, all rings hold 4 other rings. You find this at historic mail-collars and bishop-mantles. Do you have suggestions on how we can name this seam? Please let me know in the comments. We can vote for the best name by liking the comment.

Actually, I have a (temporary) name for this, but I'm not telling it in order to not spoil your creativity. You find more about this and other seams in the "Connecting-Seams"-chapter on my website ironskin_com.

Thank you guys for being around all year and contributing with your many thoughts and suggestions! This would be empty without you. Happy Holidays!

Special credits to @puddlejumper_22 who already had the idea of covering eggs in chainmail last year. Picture: Ironskin.

Throwback to 2018 with a ring from that time When

Throwback to 2018 with a ring from that time

When I made my first post here, almost three years ago, I had no idea whether anyone would be interested in making chainmail on this platform. My friend @haffner.christian (holding the hammer in the picture) was pretty much the only one to share this passion with. Soon I connected with @ash243m70s, @gandalfwoodyend, @tarvels_trinkets, @fr_aleksver, @immortaldesignsnz, and many more.

For the future, I also aim to put a focus on other mail makers and enthusiasts. So we can grow into a more and more connected community. How was your journey here on Instagram and do you remember when you encountered me?

PS: This is the step of flattening. In my bios/story highlights you find more about making rings.

Brayettes - mail armor for between the legs: What

Brayettes - mail armor for between the legs:

What looks weird in our modern eyes was once much en vogue. Following civilian fashion, renaissance armor did include a so-called codpiece or brayette to cover the groin. It could be either plate or mail. This was an intentional fashion statement for male potency. Some of the civilian textile versions even had the genital part highlighted in color.

The upper half of the first picture is showing a grave plate from about 1500. Some of these brayettes on grave plates have been chiseled off later in history.

The lower half shows an actual 16th-century brayette. The riveted and solid rings have varying dimensions with inner diameters from 6.5 to 7.9mm. The entire piece weighs 3.2kg.

Who of your friends would be looking good in one of these? Tag them! 😀

Upper picture by Dr. Volkmar Rudolf/Tilman from Römhild church, Germany. Shared via commons_wikimedia. Other pictures: Met-Museum: Accession Nr. 27.183.14.

Sophisticated Mail Shirt with wrist slits, 1550 to

Sophisticated Mail Shirt with wrist slits, 1550 to 1575

The later in time, the more sophisticated features can be observed on mail shirts. That might be because of mail tailoring techniques increasing in complexity with time or simply the greater number of extant pieces surviving.

This one here is must have been closed on the backside of the wearer. (We are looking at it from the backside). I am proclaiming that because of the way the sleeves are tailored. There are pockets that billow around the elbow pivots. And there are slits at the outside of the wrists. On other mail shirts like object W2944 in the GNM Nuremberg, these slits point to the back when the sleeves are hanging.

Regarding the rings, the piece is beautifully decorated with copper-alloy rings around all hems. The collar rings are made heavier than the general body rings. And there seems to be a third type of ring which is connecting the two meshes.

Many copper alloy rings are closed with iron rivets. This particularity is also found on German mail shirts from the region Westphalia, where they had neighboring iron- and copper industries. It seems to be less common elsewhere.

The mail shirt is referred to as object 1982.2245 within the collection of the Art Institute Chicago. Pictures by the museum.

Make your own Mail Coif: Many of you were asking

Make your own Mail Coif:

Many of you were asking for a way to construct the iconic coifs known from medieval manuscripts. So I thought of an easy way for you to build this design yourself: It is a kit of preshaped mail parts, loose rings, and leather laces.

The mail parts are marked with colorful marker rings. So you always know your position. A detailed manual guides you through every step with more than 80 pictures. You learn to do cuts and seams and expansions - all valuable techniques for other mail projects.

Get the kit on --> ironskin.com

Thank you to everyone who showed interest in advance. You guys really brought this alive! Special thanks to @walofdeath for pretesting and to @roelipilami for helping with images of originals.

A 15th-century mail collar from Germany... ... an

A 15th-century mail collar from Germany...

... and a perfect opportunity for a shootout to @philparkesmaille. He is reconstructing comparable mail pieces very accurately and passionately and he is just about to start a new project.

The upstanding collar is remarkably dense. It looks like a 6in1 weave to me. There is also a top row of tiny brass rings. It is a common trick to have smaller rings at the edges. they help to keep the mail tight. Without them, the brim tends to be more loose than intended.

Picture as posted by @arm_the_armour on tumblr_com. (Also well worth following them.) Originally from konradsherlock_com.

For some, it's just a tailoring mannequin... ...f

For some, it's just a tailoring mannequin...

...for others, it's a scarecrow that scares the hell out of people entering a tent in the dark. And ultimately it's a perfect storage place to temporarily put aside chainmail projects. Apparently, German mail-makers in days of old did the same. The old print is from 1698.

You guys voted to name him Woody Woodhead. Ever since he is a versatile and helpful companion.

#scarecrow #tailoringmannequin #büste #mailmaker #camaglio #sarwürker #woodenhead #costumetailoring #williammarshall #kettenhaube #cottedemailles #chainmailart #chainmailheadpiece #customscarecrow #notusedasintended #medievalstuff #schneiderpuppe

Laced coif with square bib: It's your turn! They

Laced coif with square bib: It's your turn!

They are a beautiful thing, aren't they? @theholy_knight recently made one. I made one. And I think you can make one, too!

It's not too difficult with prepared materials and detailed instructions. I'm currently putting together a kit that helps you to learn to make it. My dream is to see more reenactors with tight-fitting coifs that also allow you to get your head through.

You'll soon find this kit on ironskin.com. You can comment "interested" to get a message from me when it's ready.

Thank you to those who asked me to prepare this, especially @walofdeath. Pic and work by Ironskin. Next time I'll smile more. ;)

Mail coif with a square bottom and side ventail T

Mail coif with a square bottom and side ventail

There seems to be a trend within the 13th-century that has separate coifs gain more and more popularity. These coifs could have been made in various styles. This one is an excellent reconstruction of the square bottom which we see a lot in central European iconography of the period. I especially like that the rows run horizontally. Speculatively some coifs might have been cut out of older hauberks for a new wearer.

Work and pictures by courtesy of Michal Švihla from the Czech Republic. He can be found as Raven Verkstad on Facebook. The rings are commercial 8mm rings with 1.2mm wire diameter. Good job, Michal! looking forward to seeing more of that.

Haubergeon about 15th century This 11.4kg hauberg

Haubergeon about 15th century

This 11.4kg haubergeon has a lot to tell. Firstly the rings are a mixture of riveted and solid rings. Of which the solid rings look like they were made by drifting - not punching.

You can see that there is a circular collar around the neck. It is split down to the chest with overlapping sides. On both sides you still find massive rivets, that must once have held leather buckles to close the gap.

There are also some tailoring features to observe: The short sleeves are tapering in a line starting from below the armpit. Furthermore there are triangles inserted around the shoulders that reach until the front. They give additional mobility. And there is a skirt-like expansion at the front from the hips down.

I find it remarkable that a short-sleeved haubergeon has these tailoring features. This is much more necessary on long-sleeved mail garments. Perhaps it used to be long-sleeved once.

This is object NG-NM-3890 from the online collection of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands. Thank you @niallstev for showing this to me!

Mail sleeves sewn onto linen, likely 16th century

Mail sleeves sewn onto linen, likely 16th century

Mail sleeves are there to cover the gaps in plate armor. Hence the linen chest part. This is not the only option to keep the mail parts in place, yet it is a very convenient one.

Remarkable is that there is a 90°-direction change in the mail closest to the neck: Perhaps an indication that the sleeved were once cut out of a full mail shirt. Thus the rings could easily be way older. I'm no longer wondering why mail garments of earlier periods are so few.

This item was exhibited in the Castle Museum Linz, Austria. Picture by Robert R. MacPherson originally posted on armourarchive_org.

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