Galerie - Ironskin

The sculpture of St. Maurice in the abbey of Saint

The sculpture of St. Maurice in the abbey of Saint-Maurice d'Agaune. That is in the western end of Switzerland, bordering France.

It looks like there has once been a hat or helmet, that is now missing. I wonder what time it was made. Your speculation is welcome.

Happy Easter! Thank you for peace and respect! Fo

Happy Easter!

Thank you for peace and respect! For all those who contribute to the world being a free, safe, and enjoyable place. You have balls of steel! Thank you for being here - on this planet - on this account.

Cold iron in the warm autumn sun A hauberk with i

Cold iron in the warm autumn sun

A hauberk with integrated mittens for Pieter from Belgium. It weighs 11kg / 24 pounds and took us all summer to make. We were taking inspiration from artwork around the year 1300. Usually there would be an integrated hood. Yet there are also separate hoods at the time.

As undergarments Pieter is wearing a red woollen tunic and above that a thin layered linen garment. We're very happy with the mail having exactly the same length as the latter.

Mail coif from the Battle of Visby Most of the ma

Mail coif from the Battle of Visby

Most of the mail coifs that we can look at today are from the battlefields of Visby in Sweden, 1361. The fallen fighters had been left behind with their armor still on.

This is one of the better preserved pieces. It shows that the coif is not much larger than the head itself. Whatever textile or other material would had been in between would not have been overly bulky.

The mail coif is constructed with a single center ring at the top. From there it is expanding downwards where it becomes a tube. The brim around the shoulders is squarish.

Pictures by Ironskin from @gotlandsmuseum

#battleofvisby #gotlandmuseum #maille #skullandbones #ancientarmor #swedishhistory #swedishknight #gotland #maille #skull #fallensoldier #coif #camail #camaglio #ringbrynja

Wire-drawing - the neglected brother of mail makin

Wire-drawing - the neglected brother of mail making:

The manual production of wire is an almost forgotten and underappreciated craft: You forge metal to a long shape. Then you make it pointy and pull it through a hole in a plate. You repeat this with smaller and smaller holes until the piece becomes longer and thinner. Eventually, you stop and soften the wire by heat treatment before you keep going.

I'm more often working with stripes now than with forged rods. The drawing bench struggles with iron wire larger than 3mm. It is creaking and close to breaking. There is so much force needed and so much more to learn.

The scene is from the event #zeitreisecoburg at Veste Coburg, Germany. @kunstsammlungendervestecoburg

#ancientcraft #chainmailwire #romancrafts #armormaking #diywire #filodiferro #blacksmithingisfun #wirespiral #wirecoil #wirecoiling #wiremachine #wiremaking #metalforming #ironwire #metalcraft #howtomakeeverything #medievalcraft #medievalcrafts #medievalprofessions #metalshaping #wroughtiron #schmiedeeisen #schmieden #makewire #metalworking #kaltverformung #coldforming #wire

There are six known ways to shape elbows on mail s

There are six known ways to shape elbows on mail sleeves. While two of them were very widespread, three of them are extremely rare exceptions:

a) straight b) extended upper arm c) extended lower arm, d) double extension, e) inserted rhombus f) not shown here

From the 62 sleeves analyzed, we can derive a glance at how their popularity evolved throughout the middle ages. Interestingly the bend designs appear more often on separate sleeves/voiders than on shirts. This is connected to the later introduction of the bend designs. And many shirts got retailored into separate sleeves with the emerging visual dominance of plate armor.

In the full article, I discuss all six designs - how they perform - how they are assembled. And we look at them on a timeline. So you can see when they appear in history. That's all on the website shop and on Ironskin's Patreon. With 3 euro/dollar, you are part of it. Thank you for your support! Sebastian

PS: Please let me know your honest thoughts about putting content behind a paywall. I'm struggling with releasing in-depth insights. As some people just use drawings like this to train our competitors and order from them. There is so much more that I could share with you, as soon as there is a way that it helps to pay the rent. Also, there are still free spots for March's weekend workshop.

#armsandarmor #chainmail #ironskin #patreon #mailsleeves #kettenhemd #Ärmel #sleevedesign #historyofart #malienkolder #maille #ringbrynje

Guardian statue on the facade of Nuremberg St. Lor

Guardian statue on the facade of Nuremberg St. Lorenz cathedral

When you can squat like that in armour, your mail-armorer has likely done a good job.

#nuremberg #stlorenz #cathedral #ridder #ritter #mountandblade #germanknight #chevaliere #medioevo #kettenhemd #medievaltimes #crusaderarmor #medievalreenactment #medievallivinghistory #14thcentury #crusader #cottedemaille #ringpanzer #cerveliere #livinghistory #medievaleurope #bannerlord #medievalwarrior #minne #ritterlichkeit #mittelalterlich

The 12th and 13th century - a time when knights we

The 12th and 13th century - a time when knights were wearing mail as their main armor.

Featuring Dominik Huber @der_paerbinger_ritter , Milan Klindworth, Maik Wachter, Julien Reschke @tailleferlivinghistory and Tim Kramer @sericumetferrum

#secoloxiii #sieclexiii #ridder #mountandblade #chevaliere #medioevo #kettenhemd #medievaltimes #livinghistory #13thcentury #bannerlord #knightshospitaller #knight #medieval #chivalricorder #kingdomofheaven #crusader #crusades #deusvult #knightstemplar #hospitaller #teutonicorder #ritterorden #croisades #ordresmilitaires #cruzadas #holywars #templario

For the fight, one shall be armed. With rings care

For the fight, one shall be armed.
With rings carefully knit.
Stay agile and from cuts unharmed.
Mail armor has to fit!

#ironarmor #medievallife #maillelovers #rockyroadtodublin #ringmaille #kettenhemdmacher #chainmailleartisan #chainmaillelove #wearingarmor #chainmaillefashion #historicarmor #chainmaillearmour #ringarmour #knittingiron #personalarmor #chainmail #chainmailarmor #customarmor #gymclothesformen #armorsuit #medievalarmor #ironsuit #larparmor #knightly #médiévale #armadura #fashionlife #secoloxii #medievalsquire #armoring

Impressions from Hocheppan Southern Tyrol has alw

Impressions from Hocheppan

Southern Tyrol has always been the important region connecting north and south of the Alps. As much as this was true in the 13th-century, it is true today.

During the weekend living history people from Germany, Austria and Italy gathered for the event Castelronda. Artisans were displaying their crafts. Fighters practiced historic disciplines such as "capture the knight".

Southern Tyrol is the eldorado for the medieval enthusiast. From most of the countless castles you can see even more castles. And not just one - but six of those castles had been brought alive. So visitors could hike from castle to castle.

Thank you for having us! Discover more at @macinata_de_castrobarco @die_reisecen @compagnia_antica_torre @comunes_dimicatores
@balestrum_25_piloti

The unconventional mail coif in Altena Castle, Ger

The unconventional mail coif in Altena Castle, Germany

It puzzles me that the coif is fully enclosing all of the head. There are no holes for the face. There are only two torn spots - not really intentional holes.

The museum labels it as 12th-century. Yet the rings are a wild mix. Most appear to be of 15th century origin.

I have an idea, but what do you think is the reason for the non-existing face hole?

PS: We still have a few spots for the Ironskin Chainmail Workshop in March. You can sign up on our website.

#altena #burgaltena #altenacastle #camail #camaglio #bandana #ringbrünne #armourphotography #armorcosplay #ringbrynja #ironskin #medievalgermany #ritterrüstung

Congratulations, Bob Degreef! During the late 14th

Congratulations, Bob Degreef! During the late 14th century, knights wore bascinet helmets with a so-called houndskull visor. The chainmail part is named aventail. It is stitched onto a textile liner. And there is a combination of a leather band and pins to connect the aventail to the helmet.

Bob Degreef crafted this aventail ring by ring, following a museum piece in the Royal amouries. All his rings are handmade. Neither have we seen anything like this nor would we be able to do it better. Respect!

Photos by Thomas Geboers

#aventail #visor #houndskull #hundsgugel #14thcentury #englishknight #royalarmouries #armouries #handmade #visir #helmet #waroftheroses #bascinet #knightinarmour #knight #blackdeath #breathingholes #armored #knightinarmor #englishheritage #covidproject #patience #medieval #armsandarmour

A Crinet is the segmented neck-armor for a warhors

A Crinet is the segmented neck-armor for a warhorse. Together with the face-plate called Shaffron and the parts for the chest, back and sometimes legs it defines the horse's Barding.

This example is from the 1480s or slightly later, made in Milan, Italy for a noble person in Lyon, France. Such things can be known from makers' marks on the plate and written records of purchases.

Most interesting to me is the mail-part. It can lap over the reins and thus add a tiny bit of protection for the reins from being cut. Imagine cut-off reins on a warhorse - indeed a nightmare.

Metropolitan Museum New York, item number 14.25.1662.

#barding #horsearmor #warhorse #medievalwarhorse #horsearmour #shaffron #gothicarmor #schlachtross #horsewarrior #horsefight #renaissanceart #rohirim #storiamilanese #heavycavalry #mountandblade #Chanfron #ridersofrohan #medievalwar #medievalwarfare

What is a Mail Apron? This item is odd. It appear

What is a Mail Apron?

This item is odd. It appears to have a human-sized head hole. I can imagine it being tied around the chest as an apron.

When examined closely, one can see riveted rings of a very inconsistent nature. Along with them are butted rings that are spot-welded/soldered. The dense square in the middle is solely made from riveted rings. Perhaps it was a test patch at first.

The garment seems to be a creation of the younger past - 19th to 21st century. It may have been manufactured to complement a suit of armor for a collector. Or perhaps it was even made for a butcher to serve as a cut-protecting apron during slaughtering. Who knows?

Now the piece is housed in the museum of Veste Coburg in Germany. During the recent chainmail classes, we used it to demonstrate the difference between the mail armor of the younger past vs. medieval pieces. If you are interested in such courses, the actual workshop is yet ahead: the 18th and 19th of March 2023. A few places are still available.

#apron #butcher #kettenhemd #armsandarmor #ringmesh #rivetedrings #orcarmor #orcarmour #vestecoburg #schutzkleidung #cutprotection #butcherapron #butcher #chainmaille #ringarmor

Mail Shirt, 15th century This mail shirt looks li

Mail Shirt, 15th century

This mail shirt looks like it was once an enclosed shirt with only a little slit for the neck. Later someone less skillfully than the maker had cut through it to enable opening the shirt like a jacket. It's origin is western Europe, possibly southern Germany.

The rings are wedge riveted rings throughout. Their cross section is somewhat flattish. The inner diameter of the rings appears like 6mm to me without measuring. The shirt weighs 4kg/ 8pound 11ounces.

It's my first time in an American museum. I had the impression that a lot of objects arrived there selected by what catches the interest of collectors/the public. I found that very fresh and also at times incomplete.

Whereas in Europe - it appears to me - objects mostly make their way into a museum because they are the things that have been found somewhere locally. That can be very exciting. And yet sometimes everything just looks like the same badly rusted nail. What flavor of museum do you enjoy most?

This is item Nr.014.842.2 from Worchester Museum of Art. Kind greetings to @billjustis, @rachel.parikh and @worchesterartmuseum

#worchesterartmuseum #historymuseum #historyofarts #europeanarmor #armsandarmor #museumeducation #museumdpädagogik #Mailshirt #Maille #armsandarmour #15thcentury #europeanheritage #americanmuseum #europeanmuseum #museum

Sometimes we're using slightly different rings for

Sometimes we're using slightly different rings for the seams. They may be just slightly thinner or from a different batch of iron. Yet when you look at them at the right angle and light you can see the lines clearly. Sometimes you can even observe that on originals. It's not a bug - it's a feature!

This armor is our shot at building a 12th-century mail shirt yet without coif. The 12th century is a time of which we have no well-preserved and clearly dated originals to study. So we were bringing in our knowledge from earlier and later times.

The period drawings indicate details as the finger-free gloves that we decided on. However, these drawings can't be trusted regarding the pattern and shape of the mail itself.

You may have noticed that the hauberk looks very wide. The wearer has a chest circumference of 150cm / 59" while wearing a padded undergarment. The part in the middle was our way to create a skirt-like expansion and add more total width at the same time. That was a challenging project outside of the box of what we had done before.

What are you thinking about the visible seams?

#chainmail #hauberk #extra-wide #12thcentury #fingerfreegloves #crusaderarmour #armourer #crusaderarmour #12jahrhundert #ritter #kettenhemd #cottademalha #ironskin #ringarmor #armorer

The mail from Gammertingen: year 570AD, southern G

The mail from Gammertingen: year 570AD, southern Germany.

Here is a little mashup about this rare mail find from the early middle ages. It was found in a burial and must have belonged to a person of high status. The riveted rings are 9.2mm in outer diameter and the solid rings 8.5mm in outer diameter.

Digital Reconstruction: Aleksei Moskvin and Martijn A. Wijnhoven
Physical Reconstruction: Phil Parkes @philparkesmailles
Original Piece: Photos by Marvin Gedigk @epochentrotter
Holding Institution: Landesmuseum Stuttgard @lmwstuttgart

#lmwstuttgart #lmwmeistermerke #altesschloss #landesmuseum #landesmuseumwuerttemberg #wuerttemberg #grabbeigabe #archeology #stuttgart #museum #fürstengrab #gammertingen #alemann #alemannen #mailarmour #alemanic #gravefind #Grabgaben #Frümittelalter #6thcentury #chainmaille #burialobjects #burialground #mailshirt #earlymedieval #matrix #chainmail #digitalreconstruction

Mail jacket from Nuremberg Here is a shiny piece

Mail jacket from Nuremberg

Here is a shiny piece that I believe to be from the 15th- or 16th- century. The brass mark on the chest shows the coat of arms of the city of Nuremberg, Germany. The armor opens at the front to be closed by buckles with some overlap. There are short slits at the end of the sleeves. They allow this part to be narrower than the wrist.

The huge butted yellow rings must have been a later (modern) addition to close it with laces when the buckles were broken. Yet the brass rings at the collar and the wrist appear historic. The iron rings are all riveted with round crosssection. Amongst the brass rings, there are some solid rings, too.

Someone sent me these pictures long ago. I forgot where it's from. We're thinking of Kunsthistorisches Museum, Hofjagd- und Rüstkammer, Wien as of now.

The statue of St. Maurice from Magdeburg, Germany

The statue of St. Maurice from Magdeburg, Germany

Legend has it that Maurice was the leader of a Roman legion around the year 300AD. Refusing to attack fellow Christians he became a martyr. His army was the infamous Theban legion.Theban is about today's Egypt.

A millennium later people in 13th-century Germany still venerated him. They portrayed him as a well equipped knight of the years 1240-1250. He is armored with a mail hauberk, a separate mail coif, and a coat of plates on top.

From traces of color and broken surfaces one could reconstruct the blissful original appearance. The legs had fallen off and a shield had gotten lost in time. The attachment points were still there.

Photos of the reconstruction by @paul.schd and Charlen Christoph, Magdeburger Museen. It is housed in Domuseum Ottonianum Magdeburg. Photos of the original statue by Wolfgang Guelcker. It is located in Magdeburg Cathedral.

PS: Golden armor on a statue for worshipping doesn't necessarily mean there were knights fighting in armor of a golden appearance. Do you think it was possible?

#saintmaurice #maurice #mauritius #13thcentury #theban #13thcenturyknight #blackknight #christiansaint #kettenhaube #magdeburg #martyr #thebanlegion #blacksaint #goldenarmor #golden #blingbling #stmaurice #goldenchain #larparmour #larparmor #cosplayarmor #allgold #kingmidas #medievalarmor #mailarmour #thebanlegion #notthatexpensive #goldarmor

Wedge Rivets are fun! Wedge rivets are not easy t

Wedge Rivets are fun!

Wedge rivets are not easy to set. Yet they are well worth the effort. With a proper tool it is doable. From now on you can find tongs, loose rings and sheets of wedge riveted mail on our webshop. In the product description you will find what advantages wedge rivets bring. Click the link in our bio.

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