Frm-Photo-Itm-art - 4/25/20
"Going From 2D to 3D – Reproducing a Period Leather Item from a Picture" by The Honourable Lord Dafydd ap Alan.
NOTE: See also the files: Documentation-art, AS-cont-docu-msg, AS-Beg-Judged-art, Doc-n-Obitury-art, Judging-AS-art, Mystry-AS-Cmp-art, Narfing-Iron-art.
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NOTICE -
This article was added to this set of files, called Stefan's Florilegium, with the permission of the author.
These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org
Copyright to the contents of this file remains with the author or translator.
While the author will likely give permission for this work to be reprinted in SCA type publications, please check with the author first or check for any permissions granted at the end of this file.
Thank you,
Mark S. Harris...AKA:..Stefan li Rous
stefan at florilegium.org
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You can find more work by this author in his blog at:
http://kraken‐leather.blogspot.ca/
Going From 2D to 3D – Reproducing a Period Leather Item from a Picture
by The Honourable Lord Dafydd ap Alan
Late 16th Century Buff‐Leather Doublet (1550‐1600) Museum of Leathercraft, Northampton
Table of Contents
Introduction 2
Step one – Find out what you can about the item 3
Step two – A picture is worth a thousand words – study it 4
Step three – Looking for hints from other items 5
Step four – Mock‐ups and more mock‐ups 5
Appendix ‐ Sources for leather item information 6
General Resources 6
Before you start, learn what you can about the object you plan to re‐create. Is it in a Museum collection? Has the museum posted pictures, or even better details about the item? Have other people posted pictures from their visit to the museum (Pinterest can be great for this).
Some other tips:
● Check secondary sources like books or research papers. Perhaps some high quality analysis has been done on particular items in secondary sources. They may have some descriptions, diagrams or resources that you can use to answer some of your questions.
● Look at other people’s re‐creations. This isn’t necessarily to copy their work, but rather to see how they’ve interpreted the construction. You may not agree with the accuracy but it can give you some ideas (or clarity about what not to do).
● Identify the parts that you aren’t sure about so you can do more research on those. This will help you with the following steps, and you can focus on these areas when doing mock‐ups and experimenting with design concepts.
● Contact the museum to see if you can get other non‐published images, dimensions, description of materials or anything else the Curator can tell you about how it was constructed. Ask specifically about areas you identified that you aren’t sure about (“I can’t see the back to tell what the seam looks like”, or “have you looked to see if the cutwork was stamped or cut”…)
● Important to note that while some museums are very open to responding to questions, that’s not always the case. Language can also sometimes be a barrier. It’s always worth a try but don’t be discouraged if you don’t get what you need.
You can also do research on how the item would have been used. Depending on the item, this may give you design hints. How sturdy would certain load‐bearing points need to be? Was it carried or worn on a belt? How was it used?
Once you’ve collected as much information as possible about the item, it’s time to study any pictures you’ve been able to find.
There will be lots of clues in the pictures so even if all of the research above fails you, you’re not lost. There are some specific things to look at that will help you with the later mock‐up stages.
● Weight of the leather – Look at how the leather folds or lies flat. This can give you a sense of the thickness. A lighter or more flexible leather will drape more like fabric. Thicker leather will bulge more. Edges of pouches will also give you a hint at leather thickness (although keep in mind different pieces of a project can be made from different materials).
● Seam types – Different types of stitches and seams will have a different end look, so look carefully at the picture to see if you can see stitches or how the pieces of leather have been assembled.
● Stitching holes – Often the artifacts we have are not as they were originally. They could be missing parts. Look for extra stitching holes, which can give you a hint about either missing parts, or finishing touches that may have since disintegrated. A line of holes along an edge suggests either another piece was attached, or maybe there was some embellishment or a lining on the original item. The type of hole can also give you a hint at the type of stitch that was used to assemble the pieces.
● Colour and discolourations ‐ Are there parts of the item that are a different colour? This could mean they were dyed, or it could mean those parts of the item were exposed differently to the elements (ie, there was another layer of leather that was covering the piece). It could also mean it was made from a different kind of leather or different material.
● What’s there vs. what isn’t ‐ Often our artifacts have spent a lot of time buried in the ground or in less than ideal conditions. In those conditions some materials degrade faster than others. So what’s there and not there can give you a hint as to what materials the various parts may have been made from. So if all of the leather survived but the stitches didn’t, good chance the stitching was linen or another fibre. If parts of the pouch are gone, could be that was fabric as well.
Sometimes you’re just not going to be able to answer all of your questions about a specific item. Maybe the museum isn’t responding to you, or there’s no more information on this specific item to be had.
Time to expand your scope to other similar items and do some detective work.
At first you were looking at just your specific item. Time to expand. Look at other items that have a similar design or that have a specific component that looks similar. They could be from a different region, or even a different time period. See if those items have better pictures or more clarity around how they were constructed.
● Go back to your secondary sources
● Scour the internet/Pinterest
● Look at artwork from the period
My philosophy is, if you can’t prove how your specific item was constructed, but you can show evidence that similar techniques were used in another period item, and that they produce a similar look, you’ve got a solid hypothesis!
As a visual person, this is probably the most important part for me. You can do all the background research you want, but the rubber hits the road when you start constructing your item. That’s where the experimental archaeology comes in.
Your mock‐ups will let you test your construction techniques to see if they end up looking right. It also allows you to test your pattern design, because sometimes you’ll need to adjust the size or shape of different pieces to get things to look right.
There’s no right or wrong answer for how many mock‐ups to do. You’ll know when you’re happy with the look of the piece. By doing your mock‐ups, you’ll validate your theories from above, and know whether you need to do more research. In some cases you may even need to learn new techniques before you can get the mock‐up right.
The trick is to find an inexpensive material that will replicate the weight of the leather you want to use. I tend to use fabric or felt for early mock‐ups and then shift to a less expensive (i.e., chrome tan) leather when I’m closer to final. Only when I think I have the design right will I move to the good leather.
The number of mock‐ups will vary depending on the complexity of the project. Sometimes I do mock‐ ups of isolated parts of the project if I really need to do some experimenting and don’t want to waste a lot of material. Other times I may just do a full‐scale mock‐up using leather as my first attempt. The number of mock‐ups will also be affected by how many new techniques or designs you’re using in the construction. The less familiar I am, the more mock‐ups I do.
I’m often using Pinterest as a starting point for research. People post pictures of their work, but more importantly they pin pictures of museum items or other things they’ve found while combing the internet. It can shortcut your research a lot, but you need to be selective about sources just like anywhere else.
A great starting place for images of artefacts as well as period artwork of items, organized by product type, it links you to museum sites and provides reasonable detail on the items or paintings. Note: Some dead links pop up when sites have moved or she hasn’t updated the page in a while.
Pouches and Bags
Shoes
Stepping through Time by Olaf Goubitz http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4270521‐stepping‐through‐time
Shoes and Pattens by Francis Grew, Margrethe de Neergaard, Susan Mitford http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1113440.Shoes_and_Pattens
Archaeological Footwear By Marquita Volken http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21935142">http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21935142‐archaeological‐footwear
Other Leather Items
Knives and Scabbards by J. Cowgill, M. De Neergaard, N. Griffiths http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2651581‐knives‐and‐scabbards?from_search=true
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Copyright 2017 by David Gotlieb. <dafydd at rogers.com>. Permission is granted for republication in SCA-related publications, provided the author is credited. Addresses change, but a reasonable attempt should be made to ensure that the author is notified of the publication and if possible receives a copy.
If this article is reprinted in a publication, please place a notice in the publication that you found this article in the Florilegium. I would also appreciate an email to myself, so that I can track which articles are being reprinted. Thanks. -Stefan.
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