Gallery – Ironskin

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Six steps to make riveted rings. Which step do you think is the fastest? Which is the most fun? Which is the most boring? 1. after cutting
2. after first annealing
3. after flattening
4. after second annealing
5. after making the hole
6. after riveting

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Islamic mail shirt, possibly Iranian 16th century. There is an inscription on each ring in honour of the prophet and the people considered his family by the Shi'a: الله محمد علي فاطمة حسن حسين (Allah, Muhammad, 'Ali, Fatima, Hasan, Husayn) The rings are in 10.2mm (13/32") at the body. The collar has 8.9mm (11/32") solid and 5.1mm (3/16) riveted rings. The shirt weighs a bit more than 5.5kg (12 pounds).
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This is item 49.120.4 in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. @metmuseum

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Viking age mail finds from Gjermundbu farm, Norway dating to the late 9th century. The rings seem to be a mixture of riveted and solid rings. The mail is supposed to have looked like a very short sleeved shirt. Amongst the finds there was also this extremely rare find of an iron helmet with spectacle shaped visor. These items are exhibited in the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo, Norway. Pictures belong to vikverir.no.

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Have you ever wanted to touch real historic chainmail? This dream can come true. In Karsruhe, Germany, any mortal visitor can make an appointment with the museum and have a closer look at exhibited items. For example there are these Roman chainmail fragments of a Lorica hamata found in Germany. They date to 1st or 2nd century AD. This item is inventary number R 5079 e of @badischeslandesmuseum Karlsruhe.

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Mail sleeves to be worn under plate armor. This example dates from 1550 to 1600. Cutting the mail into sleeves like this helps for better mobility of the arms. Full mail shirts can block the arm movement to the front if the mail isn't tailored properly. This is especially important if plate is pressed onto the mail from above. This is item 1982.3040a-b, George F. Harding Collection, Art Institute of Chicago. #artinstitutechicago #mailsleeves #platearmor #platecollar #neckdefense #europeanart #steelart #aketon #ausholen #readytostrike #cutoffhand #cutoff #dummy #year1550 #year1600 #europeanarmor #historyofarts #mailarmor #chainmaile #larp #selfdefense #hema #fencing #mailarmour #loosefitting #steelrings #armorcollection #arsenal

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Detail of a Persian mail and plate armor. The fine iron/steel plates are inscribed with silver inlay. At the tip of the armor ends in a ring. This looks like a connection point to attach it. The armor dates to 16th-17th century Iran. It is stored as Accession Number M.73.5.729a-j in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. @lacma Update: There might pretty well be a mistake by later period armor curators: What looks like a pauldron is likely to be a piece of upper leg-armor that was falsely attached to the torso. Thanks to @mustonenpeter and @fay_armoury_ for pointing this out.

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Look at this jewel! This mail coat from Gwalior, India was made in late 18th century. The materials include steel, brass and copper. The collar is surrounded in velvet and decorated with gilded nails. The butted rings form a beautiful zigzag pattern on the main area. The armour was originally presented to an Indian museum by Maharaja Holkar in 1859. Today it is found as item 3183(IS) inside the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. @vamuseum

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Where did all the 13th century hauberks go? Well this Italian fragment of a sleeve is believed to be made in 13th century. It was probably cut in later period to become an arming sleeve for plate armour. It has a tapering sleeve and a short cross grain connection in the armpit. Today it is exhibited in the Cathedral Museum in Florence, Italy. Tank you at @balestrum_25_pilotis for taking the picture. Check out his well researched crossbow content! Drawing by me.

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German knight, mid 13th century. Which details catch your attention? With this fabulous interpretation @tobiasbleckert set a benchmark in 13th century military reenactment. He is wearing a hauberk of alternating riveted and solid flat rings. The hands are covered by integrated mittens that have a cut in the palm. The lower end of the hauberk is widened with inserted triangles. The arms are tailored conically. The ellbows have inserted pockets. And most extraordinary of all the chest opens into fan-like formation. The legs are protected by fully enclosed mail chausses that are closed with laces on the inside of the legs. This allows a tighter fit. Just as the hauberk, the coif is inspired by the statue of St. Maurice in Magdeburg Cathedral 1240-1250. It is remarkable that the rows of the mail are running vertically. This is rather rare. The entire hauberk is tailored into a perfect tight fit with great mobility. It is the creation of Isaak Krogh. You have my deep respect, Isaak! Thank you @tobiasbleckert
for providing the pictures.

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Not all heros wear capes. Would you wear this for your protection? This is a so called bishops mantle from early 15th century Germany. The name is due to its similarity to Catholic clergy garments. It's made of brass and iron based rings and weighs 4.1kg (9lbs, 1oz.) Apparently people at the time already felt sporty wearing three stripes. The item is labeled as object number 87:1939 in the Saint Louis Art Museum, Missouri. Picture from the website. @stlartmuseum

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A Swiss or German mail cape, also know as bishop's mantle. It dates from 1520 to 1530. The collar is made of finer and stronger riveted rings with two lines of brass rings. The Cape us closed with a buckle on what appears to be the backside. Unlike other examples this one doesn't have brass rings stripes at the lower end. This is found in the online collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art as article 1921.1256.

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German mailmaker in the year 1698. There is a poem below the picture:
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"The Armorer
Save(s) the work of time before a conflict starts.
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Go! The tempation is calling to the field,
and wants to beat the heart with big money,
with glory and with carnal desire.
Wear the faithfulness in GOD,
because this Armors will make all tricks,
of the enemy look like a joke and help us win." .
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German original:
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"Der Panzermacher
Verwahrt das Werk der Zeit, ehe sich anhebt der Streit.
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Auff! Die Versuchung bläst zu Feld',
und will das Herz, durch starkes Geld,
durch Ehr und fleisches Lust besiege.
Zieht an die Treue gegen GOTT,
dann diese Panzer macht zu Spott,
der Feinde List und hilft uns siegen."
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Picture by wikimedia respectively deutschefotothek_de. Picture-Nr.: df_tg_00008481Dataset-Nr.: obj 88968481 The source is in Sächsische Landesbibliothek - Staats-und Universitätsbibliothek Dresden, Germany.

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Chainmail fragment with a story. The picture of this fragment is taken from a book published in 1920. The autor had met a farmer who as a young boy, 30 years ago, had seen a ropemaker with a piece of chainmail. The ropemaker had used it for smoothing down the rope. He had said that the mail had come from a church in Gloucestershire, England. With great diligence the farmer could find and procure the mail from the ropemakers son. The author assigned it to early 14th century. The special thing about this mail is that it is riveted with clamps/staples. The four pictures below show my attempts to replicate that. The name of the book is: "A record of European armour and arms through seven centuries Volume II". You can acess it for free online: https://ia802700.us.archive.org/0/items/recordofeuropean02lakiuoft

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Elfsheet - Is it something you would wear? Elfsheet pattern is an invention of modern mail artisans. It is rather dense, yet flexible in all directions. The mesh doesn't have much space to poke through but it is also a bit heavier than European4in1.

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Polish armour of mail and plates, 16th century. Would you wear this combination or just mail or just plate? The armour is exhibited in the National Museum, Krakow. Pictures by peashooter 85 on Tumblr. peashooter85_tumblr_com/post/174372782951/polish-armor-composed-of-1074-plates-16th/amp

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Detail of a Japanese hip armour. The armour is worn like a belt with several hanging panels called Kusazuri. The panel are covered with 6in1 style Japanese chainmail Kusari. The rings are butted. Yet each connecting has two rings for extra strength. Image by Worldantiques on wikimedia. Unknown location and date of manufacturing.

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The artful and resourceful way to make a ring. Yet is it helpful for making chainmail? This unique method was performed and shared by metal artist János Gábor Varga. He is a jeweller from Hungary who lives in Italy. Check out his insta @blindspotjewellery There is more like this. János also has a website: blindspotjewellery.carbonmade.com

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Chinese Mountain Scales Armour 山文铠 part2. Interpretations range from beveled scales to hexagonal scales to various styles of mail. I find it remarkable that the beveled scales (third picture on the right column) look like 山, the sign for mountain. Also it's fascinating how the picture in the bottom left looks like gracelock style chainmail. Yet the picture above it seems to be a transition between chainmail and scalemail styles. Let me know which one is convincing you most! Thank you for your great feedback! Special thanks to @173.1005132!

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German knight in the year 1320. Are you also admiring this shiny bascinet? The mail armor is made and worn by German reenactor Fabian Griesler. It consists of a hauberk with attached mittens, a seperate coif and chausses. It contains about 40.000 rings. Half of them are solid, half riveted. The collar is tight fitting and closed by buckles. Parts of the mail have decorative edges of brass rings. The sleeves are tailored in different ways. That way he practically tested their performance. In some areas he also incorporated hand made rings to check how they look after they have been worn a lot. The chausses are attached to the hips. They have a cut running along the back of the lower leg to facilitate getting in and out. Pictures by Fabian Griesler. Check out his German website thetten1320.de

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Inscribed or not inscribed? This is a Russian Baidana with extremely big, flat rings. It dates to 16th-century and belonged to military engineer Ivan Vyrodkov. The shirt is exhibited in the Kreml Museum Moscow. Pictures by Лапоть on wikimedia_org.

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