pouches-msg - 11/16/08
Period pouches, purses and bags.
NOTE: See also the files: belts-msg, chasity-belts-msg, gloves-msg, p-backpacks-msg, rope-msg, basketweaving-msg, coopering-msg, leather-msg, lea-bladders-msg, lea-tanning-msg.
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NOTICE -
This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.
This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org
I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter.
The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make no claims as to the accuracy of the information given by the individual authors.
Please respect the time and efforts of those who have written these messages. The copyright status of these messages is unclear at this time. If information is published from these messages, please give credit to the originator(s).
Thank you,
Mark S. Harris AKA: THLord Stefan li Rous
Stefan at florilegium.org
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From: ben at hrofi.demon.co.uk
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Viking and Anglo-Saxon Belt Pouches
Date: Wed, 21 Feb 1996 18:18:21 GMT
Many Viking/Anglo-Saxon re-enactors wear belt-pouches, but were they
widely used at the time? If we look at what they are used for on a
20th Century Living History Site, they are mainly used for 20th
century articles, namely wallets/purses, car keys, cigarettes,
lighters, etc. Originally people may have had pouches containing money
in the form of silver coinage, but surely this would be something only
carried when a person was going someplace to actually spend it, not
something worn as an everyday item. So what would the everyday Saxon,
or Viking need a belt-pouch for?
From a general point of view I do not know of much evidence for
pouches. It makes no sense for a warrior to have a pouch on a belt in
combat as it would be far to easy to lose it on the field. Surely if
pouches were in existence they would be worn underneath the main
tunic, out of harms way. This argument might also go for on the
average person in a town, too. There you may not lose it to an
accidental cut of a weapon, but to have pouches in open view would
surely be a target for a thief.
Further to the above paragraphs, and going on the assumptions that
pouches did actually exist, what forms of pouches existed at this
time. Are we relying on middle age or continental ideas for the
shaping of those that we currently have? Were the pouches simple
drawstring bags, or were the more like a medieval purse with lid and
suspension loops?
I look forward to hearin from you.
Ben Levick
From: nqf2312 at is2.nyu.edu (Norman J. Finkelshteyn)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Viking and Anglo-Saxon Belt Pouches
Date: 23 Feb 1996 01:05:51 GMT
Organization: New York University
ben at hrofi.demon.co.uk wrote:
: Many Viking/Anglo-Saxon re-enactors wear belt-pouches, but were they
: widely used at the time? If we look at what they are used for on a
: 20th Century Living History Site, they are mainly used for 20th
: century articles, namely wallets/purses, car keys, cigarettes,
: lighters, etc. Originally people may have had pouches containing money
: in the form of silver coinage, but surely this would be something only
: carried when a person was going someplace to actually spend it, not
: something worn as an everyday item. So what would the everyday Saxon,
: or Viking need a belt-pouch for?
Pouches, suspended from the belt are widely seen in medieval art. In
fact, I'd say the costume is incomplete without a pouch.
A pouch (or purse) was found with the Sutton Hoo ship burial. Saxon?
The museum display for that burial, at the Brittish museum had an
illustration of how the
warrior would have combined the items. They show the purse worn on the
outside, over the mail - similar to the later medieval and reenactor fashion.
The Russian tale of how Svietogor met Ilia Muromets has Svietogor putting
Ilia into his "pocket", which the footnotes explain is "a pouch worn at
the belt" (Svietogor does not get off the horse or undo his mail - and,
since the period's mail was knee length, split for riding, and was put on
over the head, he would have had to do so if the belt and puch were
underneath.
(this is at a time when Russ still meant Viking)
Hope this helped.
Nahum
From: priest at vassar.edu (Carolyn Priest-Dorman)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Viking and Anglo-Saxon Belt Pouches
Date: 25 Feb 1996 00:55:54 GMT
Organization: Vassar College
Greeting from Thora Sharptooth!
Ben Levick (ben at hrofi.demon.co.uk) asked about Viking/Anglo-Saxon
pouches:
>what forms of pouches existed at this
>time. Are we relying on middle age or continental ideas for the
>shaping of those that we currently have? Were the pouches simple
>drawstring bags, or were the more like a medieval purse with lid and
>suspension loops?
Here's a little information on eastern Viking pouches. Four basic
types of pouches/purses were found in the Birka graves. One is a
clever folding leather wallet with several sections. (A related type
was found in Holland; that one appears to have a strap to tie around
the folded wallet.) Another is a single-suspension leather purse with
metal mounts that buckles closed. (A related type was found in
Jamtland.)
Contact me privately for sources.
***********************************************************************
Carolyn Priest-Dorman Thora Sharptooth
priest at vassar.edu Frostahlid, Austrrik
Gules, three square weaver's tablets in bend Or
***********************************************************************
Date: Wed, 28 Feb 1996
To: markh at risc.sps.mot.com
From: priest at vassar.edu (Carolyn Priest-Dorman)
Subject: Pouches at Birka
Unto Stefan, greeting from Thora!
The source for pouches at Birka is the following.
Anne-Sofie Graeslund, "Beutel und Taschen," pp. 141-154 in
_Systematische Analysen der Graeberfunde_, ed. Greta Arwidsson.
Birka: Untersuchungen und Studien, II:1. Stockholm: Kungl.
Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademien/Almqvist & Wiksell
International, 1984. (ISBN # 91-7402-151-6.)
The article is in German, but there are some line drawings. This series
("Birka: Untersuchungen und Studien") is a huge goldmine of information on
all sorts of important Viking Age finds from Birka. (Imagine, a whole
chapter just on spearpoints!)
***********************************************************************
Carolyn Priest-Dorman Thora Sharptooth
priest at vassar.edu Frostahlid, Austrrik
Gules, three square weaver's tablets in bend Or
***********************************************************************
Date: Mon, 22 Feb 1999 18:34:43 -0500
From: Irene leNoir <irene at ici.net>
To: SCA-Arts <SCA-ARTS at UKANS.EDU>
Subject: Looking for Pouch Sources
While my local library really isn't up to any serious research, they do
give me acces to inter-library loan. The only hitch with ILL is that you
have to know what you are looking for. I'm hoping that some of you may
be able to point me in the right direction.
I'm looking for photographs of 14th to 15th century paintings or
illuminatins (preferably French) that show women wearing pouches.
I've looked through my book, photocopy, and slide collections, and I've
only been able to find 3 examples:
1995 Medieval Woman Calendar - November
Attending a Birth (detail
Birth of Mary - Weingartner Altar
Hans Holbein the Elder
German 1493
Augsburg Cathedral
- The woman on the left wears a small pale pink pouch suspended from her
belt (next to a chatelaine that holds several keys). The pouch appears
to be decorated with points of fabric, but I can't really tell because
the image is so small
1998 Medieval Woman Calendar - August
Peasants Hunting Rabbits With Ferrets (detail)
Tapestry, Franco-Burgundian, c. 1450-75
Glasgow Museums: The Burrell Collection
- The woman on the top right wears a pouch over her underdress but under
her overdress. It is beige and is decorated with tan or golden toned
beads. It has separate hanging and gathering strings.
French Painting: From Fouquet to Poussin
page 48
Les Heures d'Etienne Chevalier, c 1450
the Visitation
Musee Conde, Chantilly, France
- The woman on the right wears a rose pink pouch over her underdress but
under her overdress. I can't see much about the construction of the
pouch other than that a seam appears to be decorated with either beads or
a cord.
If you know of any other examples, please send me the publication
information for the book that contains them. Please also include a page
or plate number and/or description so that I know where to look
Jessica Clark
SCA: Irene leNoir
Date: Mon, 1 Mar 1999 21:55:53 -0500
From: "Rowena" <rowena at telenet.net>
To: <sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu>
Subject: Re: Looking for Pouch Sources
>I'm looking for photographs of 14th to 15th century paintings or
>illuminatins (preferably French) that show women wearing pouches.
>Jessica Clark
From A Visual History of Costume, The 14th & 15th Centuries:
*An effigy of Lady Gobard, c1325-30, wears what seems to be a drinking horn
hung on a strap. IT's a horn, and it is hollowed out.
*An illumination of peasant women, c1335-40 , done by an anon. East Anglian
illuminator, shows one with a pouch hung off a belt
*A picture of a male figure from the Percy Tomb, c1340, with the note:
Accessories: A purse with a dagger thrust through it is worn at the
front exactly the way Henry Knighton said dissolute women wore
them when they appeared at tournaments in 1348, dressed in men's clothes.
*A picture of Cathrine of Cleves distributing alms, c1430, where she has
what looks like a dagger suspended from her belt, but it could be anything,
and has one hand on something else suspended from a belt. It looks like a
pouch, and since whe is handing out some coins, it seems like a safe guess.
*St. Mary Magdalene, from the 'Altarpiece of the Seven Sacraments', c1445,
the book notes Accessories: A belt with a circular clasp, and a hook from
which to hang a purse.
Rowena
From: HS Plouse <hpflashman at charter.net>
Date: September 8, 2004 11:26:00 PM CDT
To: stefan at florilegium.org
Subject: Belt Pouches
I happened, in the course of researching some points of interest, come across the question regarding the use of belt pouches by early era Germanics (Franks, Saxons, Vikings, etc.). I can say absolutely that almost every Migration era German probably wore at least one, in which he carried his steel firestriker, some flints, and an assortment of tinder. Such have been found on bog burial bodies from the 2nd through 5th Centuries and the usage presumably continued. A great many reconstructions of early Germanics show the firestriker suspended directly from the belt and some Viking era ones certainly appear designed for such attachment, but it is an easy way to lose a critical article and it is more likely that the majority were carried in pouches along with the rest of the firemaking ensemble (indeed, most of the early firestriker designs would not have conveniently hung directly from the belt and must have been carried in a pouch). As far as the pouch design is concerned, I'm sure there was a wide gamut, from simple drawstring designs to more modern looking ones, complete with flaps and buckles. The Sutton Hoo purse comes immediately to mind, but I have also seen a lovely Frankish example, from the 6th Century, which consists of a "U" shaped front and back, with the back sporting an integrated flap, and with the front and back connected by a leather mid-piece wrapped around and sewn, along the front and back edges, to the two "U" shaped pieces. I have since adopted that pattern as my basic pouch design and have probably produced hundreds, since it is simple to make, attractive, non-bulky, and yet capacious. The historical example appeared to use a strap and buckle closure, but I've made the style with multiple styles of closures, all of which work well, given the basic competence of the bag's design.
ALRIC GREYBEARD, mka H. Scott Plouse
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: SCA Period Pouch/Purse Question
Date: 21 Jun 2005 07:51:18 -0700
<<< I seem to be accruing teenage wards by the carload. I generally drive
out to one of the local archery ranges at least once per week. Lately
I have had a carload of teenage girls accompany me. I have plenty of
loaner bows, but they keep stepping on and breaking or shooting my
arrows into the woods where they can't be found. For the last 18
months I have been asking them to buy arrows. These maidens run from
13 to 17 years of age and have no money, but they all have sewing
machines. So I have decided to put them to work sewing upholstery
pouches, quivers, belts, hats & etc. I have a book with plenty of
illustrations of hats, but need illustrations of pouches. Are there
any good illustrations on the web, or is there a good reference books
available?
Jim Koch (Gladius The Alchemist) >>>
Try these on for size...
http://www.medievaldesign.com/accessorieng.html
However, with that kind of Sewing Power, I'd put them to work on my
Garb for Pennsic. ;-)
Good luck with the sweatshop...
Marcus
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: SCA Period Pouch/Purse Question
From: Robert Uhl <eadmund42 at NOSPAMgmail.com>
Date: Sun, 26 Jun 2005 12:56:59 -0600
"Jim" <alchem at en.com> writes:
> I am surprised though that I haven't received more suggestions. This
> used to be the place to get answers regarding costuming.
Unfortunately the death of Usenet really does seem to be imminent. It's
all very sad.
However, I can add one other recommendation: Period Patterns have a
pattern set dedicated to bags, purses & pouches. I've not used it, but
_have_ used their Men's Italian Renascence and Late Tudor/Elizabethan
patterns, and have had great success with them, so I feel confident that
the pouch & purse patterns will be pretty good. There are 46 different
patterns, so even if some aren't great simple probability is that there
are enough to be useful.
Something I really like about Period Patterns is that they include an
historical overview of clothing in each set with lots of pictures, which
is useful for getting ideas.
Here's my review of the Tudor/Elizabethan patterns:
<http://denver.tribe.net/recommendation/a1b13e8d-a48a-48a5-89cd-19d6b5e58d87?r=10010>.
The only error is that, of course, the pattern isn't specific to Denver.
--
Guthlac of Caerthe <http://public.xdi.org/=ruhl>
Date: Tue, 05 Dec 2006 18:33:26 -0500
From: mmagnusol <MMagnusOL at nc.rr.com>
Subject: [SCA-AS] Tarsolybearers? Homepage - Surprise of the day
To: - Adrian Empire - NC - Shire of Galloway
<Shire_of_Galloway at yahoogroups.com>, - AncientArtifacts
<Ancientartifacts at yahoogroups.com>, - Authenticity List
<authenticity at yahoogroups.com>, "- BARONY of WINDMASTERS' HILL"
<keep at windmastershill.org>, - EKMetalsmiths
<EKMetalsmiths at yahoogroups.com>, - SCA-ARTS
<artssciences at lists.gallowglass.org>
There is more than just this page on metal pouch lids.
It is quite a site for inspiration for both
repousse and leatherwork.
Magnus
<http://www.tarsolyosok.hu/eng/leleteink.htm>
<http://www.tarsolyosok.hu/eng/>
Date: Mon, 10 Sep 2007 12:01:12 -0400
From: "Saint Phlip" <phlip at 99main.com>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Fwd: Books on Bowls, Purses and Shoes from the
Middle Ages, on offer from DBBC
To: medieval-leather at yahoogroups.com, "Arts and Sciences in the SCA"
<artssciences at lists.gallowglass.org>, "Cooks within the SCA"
<sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>, SCA-AuthenticCooks at yahoogroups.com
I know we were discussing bowls on one of my Lists. Looks like a nice
selection of books coming out.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: ian.stevens at dbbcdist.com <ian.stevens at dbbcdist.com>
Date: Sep 10, 2007 11:44 AM
Subject: Books on Bowls, Purses and Shoes from the Middle Ages, on
offer from DBBC
To: phlip at 99main.com
Dear Philippa Alderton,
One new and two forthcoming items that will interest medieval
archaeologists and re-enactors:
Firstly, we have received some copies of Robin Wood's very
attractively produced history of that humblest of objects: the wooden
bowl. <snip>
Our second book, which will be available at the very end of the year
is Olaf Goubitz's "Purses in Pieces". The book looks at and
illustrates purses, pouches, bags and cases from the later middle
ages and sixteenth century, all of which were found in Goubitz's
native Netherlands. We have an introductory offer price of $35 on the
book and you can click below for more details, including some sample
pages to see just how well-illustrated the book will be.
And finally, also from Olaf Goubitz, we are delighted to announce that
his "Stepping Through Time: Archaeological Footwear from Prehistoric
Times until 1800" will be released in paperback later this year. <snip - See the file p-shoes-msg>
The bowls book is available now, but the other two will not be here
until the end of the year. Still, you can secure your copy by ordering
now.... I hope you will.
Ian Stevens
The David Brown Book Company
Tel: 1-800-791-9354
'Purses in Pieces: Archaeological Finds of Late Medieval and
16th-Century Leather Purses, Pouches, Bags and Cases in the
Netherlands' - by Olaf Goubitz
List Price: US$ 40.00 * Our Price: US$ 35.00 *
Link: http://www.oxbowbooks.com/bookinfo.cfm?ID=81349&MID=11474
<the end>