Leathersmith​/Archer

If you're an archer you have drooled over this archer's arm guard.  There seems to be some contorversy about if it was found on the Mary Rose or came from a Museum in London.  (NOTE TO SELF:  FIND that museum on next trip...........stay out of the pubs until found.  NAAAAAA!)

 

Here is a link to a web site that explains this piece - http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/pe_mla/a/archers_bracer.aspx  

Highlight the link, right click, select GOTO Link or copy and paste.

 

 

 

Here is a colored version I found somewhere on the internet.  (I have tried to re-find that link but have thus far failed.  Check back.)  The link indicated that examining color chips still adhering to the leather indicated a coloring as you see it here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So after great trial and tribulation I have been able to move the pattern to a piece of leather.  Here you see it tooled but, obviously, not colored.  I made one change here.  In the image above you can just see a gold line above the black line and the words.  As this particular design creates a very narrow strike plate I choose to leave that part off.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So here is my version painted.  The original, internet reference, said the gold was gold leafing.  Going back to the subject of functionality, I decided gold leafing would flake off quickly with string slap.  I used a gold paint that substitues quite nicely.  I also stippled the inbetween areas.  After creating this I feel I  should have used my generic backgrounding tools instead.  The stippling creates a deeper penetration that holds paint really well but is difficult to paint and doesn't allow the shine of this paint to come through. 

 

I still need to strap this arm guard.  Not real happy with the one pictured above as I feel it would fail due to how  it's cut.  But I also feel that this was an arm guard that was never actually used.  It was an award to an archer by a queen - rose in the design.

 

 

 

And finally wanting an arm guard of this tyle I could use on a regular basis I made this one.  The seated winged greyhound is my household symbol.  The oak leafs were.......because I could.  Actually many of the other designs one sees from the Mary Rose had oak leafs on them.  Perhaps hold over from the days of the Druids.

 

I also choose to use elastic strapping and deer antler buttons instead of the strap and buckle arrangement on the original.  Again, done for efficiency of use.

 

 

 

 

These last two images show the finished guard with straps applied.  I really should have used a brass tone buckle to go with the overall gold tone of the guard but I didn't have one.  I used the nickle one.  I used a nickle rivet to keep the buckle on but brass rivets on the guard, again for a better match to the buard overall color.

 

 

 

The final image at the bottom was an attempt to photograph mine in the same aspect as the museum piece pictured above.  Kinda hard to have the guard just floating in the air for that kinda of picture.