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Chris Dobson

Master Armourer

Reconstructions: Castlerock Museum 13th Century.

Back in 2003 I produced a hardened leather, or cuir bouilli, vambrace for a paper given at the 2003 International Arms and Armour Conference in Florence, showing how hardened leather armour was actually made, using special partially-tanned leather, animal glue and gesso. In 2009, Castlerock Museum asked me to produce equipment for a figure of a 13th Century Knight, so I made a great helm, and incorporated the existing vambrace.

Since no examples survive, I had to use period art alone as reference. It was therefore based on sculptures on the West Front of Wells Cathedral and frescoes in the Palazzo Pubblico in San Gimignano. When it came to the decoration of the brass reinforces, I got some inspiration from aquamanili of the period, which are covered in fine engraved geometrical decoration. Because the figure was meant to have a ‘campaign’ look, the blue oxide finish was distressed, and the brass dulled down.

Hardened leather armour was often very richly decorated, and while there are plenty of artistic references, such as the tomb of Guglielmo di Durfort, and the San Gimignano frescoes, only one actual piece of hardened leather armour from the 13th Century is known to survive, an upper right vambrace (now held in the British Museum, London). It is very heavily tooled, and despite being excavated, there are still minute traces of the gilding that must once have covered it entirely.

In the 13th Century, hardened leather armour was made by laminating partially tanned leather, glued together with animal glue. This was then 'cooked' with dry heat while nailed onto wooden lasts (not boiled in water). Once dry, it was given several coats of gesso (an animal glue-based plaster), and then painted. It was also frequently gold or silver leafed, sometimes entirely.

For full details of how this vambrace was made, together with full step-by-step photography, see the 2003 International Arms and Armour Conferences publication, available from the Online Shop page of this website.

Left: The finished cuir bouilli vambrace, with rondels at the armpit and elbow. Decoration consists of trailing designs of stylized roses and foliage against a textured background. The roses are decorated with gold leaf, with the rest painted. Colour scheme based on 13th Century Italian art.

Below from left to right: The tomb of Guglielmo di Durfort, died 1289, church of Santissima Annunziata, Florence (note the tooled hardened leather leg armour, and the vambrace, suggested by the strap around the wrist), a close up of the sight of the great helm, showing the punched and engraved decoration, a detail of the decoration on the lower vambrace, and a detail of the tooling on the British Museum vambrace.