Viking Lucet Cord Research

Before that discussion, I had been aware that there have been heated discussions among reenactors and historical costumers about whether the Vikings used lucets or not, but I didn't really know what support existed for the hypothesis that they used such devices. It turns out that the most solid piece of evidence for the use of lucets in the Viking era comes from a grave find at Barshalder, in Sweden, which was the subject of an article by Kerstin Pettersson. Here's the full citation of her article, for the curious:

Kerstin Pettersson, "En gotländsk kvinnas dräkt. Kring ett textilfynd från vikingatiden," Tor 12, 1967-1968. Societas Archaeologica Upsaliensis, Uppsala, pp. 174 - 200.

Ms. Pettersson's article (of which I have obtained the gist primarily from the English-captions on the accompanying photographs, since the text itself is in Swedish) discusses two pieces of cord found in the grave, one of which apparently held beads, and the other of which appeared to be fastened to one of the tortoise brooches in the grave in a position that suggested a shoulder strap. Whether such cords were used for straps on apron dresses, however, is not the part of the discussion I'm focusing on right now. What I'm interested in is the evidence for the use of lucets in the Viking era, and what a "Viking lucet" might have looked like.

The Barshalder cords have a square cross-section, like the cord made by lucets, according to Sandy Sempel of Frojel Gotlandica, who has had an opportunity to see them in person. Like lucet cord and unlike cords made by fingerlooping, the Barshalder cords appear to be made from one continuous length of string. It seems likely that, if cord with the property of lucet cord is found in a Viking era grave, that the Vikings had a device that could make such cord.

Bone lucets from Jorvik (York), World of Vikings CD-ROM

Bone lucet with runes from Skåne, Sweden, World of Vikings CD-ROM

Sources:

Kerstin Pettersson, "En gotländsk kvinnas dräkt. Kring ett textilfynd från vikingatiden," Tor 12, 1967-1968. Societas Archaeologica Upsaliensis, Uppsala, pp. 174 - 200.

New dress fabric ordered

I finally ordered fabric for a new dress for me! Yeah!

I went kind of bold and purchased a burnt orange wool for the dress and olive green linen for the lining. I already have the black wool for the guards.

My goal is to recreate the look of these dresses (colorwise)...





Durer

I just hope I don't end up looking like a pumpkin. lol

Goller - The Plan and a good start

What is a Goller?  It is the German version of a capelet, usually fur-lined, worn for warmth.  It is very suitable to the working women that wants to stay warm but can not be bundled up in a full sized cloak.

There are many examples of gollers in period artwork.  Some fur-lined, some not; some with guarding and some without and some with collars and others without.  Below are a few of the examples that I am baseing my goller on:

Paumgartner Altar (detail of right wing) by Albrecht Durer, 1503.

Nuremberg Woman by Albrecht Durer, ?.

Portrait of a Young Woman by Hans Baldung Grien, 1st half 16th Century

So, tonight I got the goller cut out from a light brown wool.  I followed the pattern from Reconstructing History #505 Early 16th Century German Accessories.  I then cut guards an inch and a half wide from a lightly felted black wool and pinned them onto the front of the goller two inches from the edge.  That was all for tonight.  Next the guards will be hand whip stitched in place and the whole goller lined with fur.

Belt Accessory - Keys

I made an eBay purchase today for some reproduction keys to hang off my belt.  You can see keys hanging from the belts of many german women in period artwork.  Keys were often worn visibly on the belt (by both men and women) as they respresented certain rights (or an office) of the wearer. As the head of the household, a wife would own a chain of keys.  Here are just a few examples that fit my persona's timeframe:

A seated woman by Albrecht Durer, 1514.

Melencolia I , Albrecht Durer, 1514.

Couple Seated on a Bed, from Scenes of Daily Life by Israhel van Meckenem.

I felt it would add that touch of authenticity to my garb if I had a set of keys too.  Having a period correct gown is a wonderful thing but it is often the little extra accessories you add to it that make it really special.  The keys I bought aren't perfect but they fit my budget for now.  In the future I may replace them with nicer ones but these will do for the time being.

Above are the reproduction keys I purchased.

Extant 15th Century Keys.

Pearl Necklace

I have been wanting to recreate this pearl necklace for some time.  It is simple, feminine and very "me".  It appears to me to be constructed of small pearls double strung in groups of eight separated by a black or dark green bi-cone.  Ten bi-cones can be seen in the portrait and it hangs to the top of her breastbone.

Portrait of a Young Venetian Woman by Albrecht Durer, 1505.

Many years ago, my husband surprised me with a bundle of stranded imitation pearls.  They are quite small, maybe 2-3 mm in diameter.  They have been stowed away in my beading supplies until now.  The bi-cone beads were the hard part... I couldn't seem to find a black glass or stone bi-cone of a size that matched well with the portrait.  I ended up having to settle for a black 7mm bead which was smaller then I wanted.

Stringing them was pretty easy.  I used two strands of nylon beading thread (not period but very strong and will prevent breakage from little toddler hands).  I threaded each strand onto it's own beading needle.  I began by passing both strands through a bi-cone bead.  Then strung four pearls onto each strand and then passed both threads through a bi-cone again.  I repeated this pattern until I felt it was the correct length when held up around my neck.  The final necklace has 29 bi-cone beads strung on it where the one in the portrait has somewhere around 14-16 I would guess.  The ends where tied to a simple pewter hook and eye clasp.

I am fairly pleased with the result.  I wish the black bi-cones were larger, I think it would match the inspiration piece better.  The completed necklace will be counted toward my A&S 50 Persona Challenge.

More original artwork of aprons

The Fountain of Youth (detail) by Lucas Cranach the Elder

Pyramus and Thisbe by Hans Baldung Grien, 1530.

But the image am so excited about finding is the one below clearly showing smocking at the top of the apron of the women cooking!

Camp scene of Charles V- Zeltlager Kaiser Karls V. vor Lauingen, 1546.

A Pleated & Smocked Apron - The Plan

So, now that the holidays are over I am going to start working on my new garb.  The first project will be something small and hopefully quickly finished... an apron.

Aprons were very popular as they helped keep ones hard to clean clothes from getting soiled.  I personally like the look of smocked aprons and that is what I plan on making.  Below you can see a few of the paintings of which I am drawing my inspiration from.

The first three show the use of pleated aprons. In the Seated Woman by Durer you can see how the pleats have been drawn up tight at the top of the apron and then are allowed to hang down and become full.  I don't see any top stitching on the pleats in this image so the basting threads may have been left in to hold the pleats in place.

Seated Woman, Albrecht Durer, 1514

Presumed Portrait of the Artist's Wife, Hans Holbein the Younger, 1517.

Portrait of a Woman, Albrecht Altdorfer,  1522.

(Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid)

In Albrecht Durer's Melencolia I, you can clearly see a pattern at the top of the apron that could easily be honeycombed smocking.

Melencolia I , Albrecht Durer, 1514.

And again, below you can see what apears to be honeycomb at the top of the apron and maybe a simple line of embriodery or cutwork at the bottom too.

The Seamstress, Edward Schoen, 1535.

If I have time I would like to add some embroidery to the bottom of the apron as well.  Maybe some blackwork similar to what appears in this painting:

Unknown.

Well before my persona's life time there are many examples of pleated and/or smocked aprons.  Most notably, images found in the Luttrell Psalter from the 14th century.  Black embroidery of some kind is clearly seen at the tops of these gathered aprons.

And finally, about 60-70 years after my target time period, you can find many images of pleated, smocked and otherwise embroidered aprons in the Frauen-Trachten by Jost Amman published in 1586. The ones of greatest interest to me are among the images of the women of Frankfurt am Main, Germany the home of my persona, Elsbeth.

The plan for new garb for me!

Now that the rush to make garb for the three kiddos is over I am excited to get on with the plans for a whole new set of garb for me!  My SCA Persona, Elsebeth, was born in Frankfurt, German in 1465.  My goal is to create period garb that falls between the years of 1485 to 1520 when I would have been an adult between 20-55 years old.  To that end, I want my first dress to be an everyday working dress similar to that seen in the images below:

Portrait of a Man and His Wife by Ulrich Apt the Elder, 1512.

Anna Barth? from the Lamberger Portrait Book, 1575-ish.

(Is fancier then I want and from a later period but nice to see the style didn't change much.)

Portrait of 34 year old women by Hans Holbien, 1517.

Portrait of Coloman Helmschmid and Agnes Breu by Jorg Breu the Elder, 1500-1505.

Portrait of a women by Wolf Traut, 1510.

To Do List:
1. Kleid (dress)
2. Hemd (smock)
3. Wulsthaube (headwear)
4. Goller (shoulder wrap/cape)
5. Apron
6. Hose (stockings)
7. Shoes (and maybe Pattens too)
8. Jewelry
9. Belt
10. Pouch

It is a long, somewhat overwhelming list!  I will take on one thing at a time but most likely not in the order listed above.  Many of the items I don't have at all and if added onto my current not period correct dress and chemise I will at least "look" more period-ly correct so I may work on those first just in case the dress doesn't get finished by the next event, Ymir, in February.

Change of plans...

Well, maybe not a change of plans.  More like an addition!

I had originally thought I would make "T" a copy of the Holbein's daughter's hemd and sleeveless dress.  Then it occurred to me that the Winter Solstice event is in December and it might be a wee bit chilly.  So, in doing a bit more research on children's clothes I came across the Herjolfsnes finds.  Herjolfsnes 44 is a child's gown with long sleeves and originally made out of wool.

So based on their layout I pattern drafted it out to be sized for almost 2 year old "T" with a bit of growing room as well.  I had some cast off "first garb" blue linen pants that had been given to me and I cut them apart for this project.  I had just enough to piece this dress together.

I got most of it sewed tonight.  I have one sleeve left to attach and then the hemming.  I lined the collar with the oatmeal linen I used as guarding on "M"'s dress.  If I have time I would like to do some simple embroidery at the collar to hold the lining in place.

I also finally settled on who to order my wool flannel from: The Wool Connection.  Once the wool comes in I can start on "E"'s tunic and maybe a few other projects as well.

Inspiration for children's garb

So, in preparation for the German themed Winter Solstice event on December 11th I need to sew garb for the kids.  Calum and I have garb we can wear for this event (although I would love to make some new items for me as well) but the kids have no garb to wear at all.  Searching the internet I found a few inspirational images...

The painting "The Artist's Family" by Holbein in 1528 shows a toddler in a simple short sleaved hemd and sleaveless gown.  This should be easy enough to duplicate for our 23 month old daughter, "T".  I will use linen or a linen/cotton blend.  The hemd will be white and the dress whatever period color I can find.  I will probally do hook and eye closure on the bodice instead of spiral lacing.

For "M", our 6 year old daughter, I will make a campfrua overdress using the pattern from Reconstructing History #504 as a general guidline.  I have some pieces of linen (deep red and oatmeal) in my stash that I hope will be large enough to use for her dress.  The hemd will be from white linen and drafted from the Reconstructing History #505 pattern..  If I have time I would like to experiment with pleating and smocking the neckline in a honeycomb stitch.

Finally, "E" is our 8 year old son.  He is not so keen on dressing up so I need to make something simple and not to weird looking for him.  The plan is to make a plain white linen shirt, linen or wool T-Tunic in red (his favorite color) and flannel loose pants.  I plan to follow the T-Tunic pattern from "Practical Worksheet for Tunic Construction" by Cynthia Virtue.

For all the kids I would like to make linen 3 piece coifs but not sure any but "M" will actually wear them.  Cynthia Virtue also had great write up on Coif construction at "How to make a coif: 1 and 3 piece patterns".

So, that is my starting plan.  I am sure it will evolve as time goes on.