A very, very nice article you have there. i plan on constructing a pavise very soon and need some pictures for research. Thank you, i pormise to post progress and final pictures when i get round to it. Do you have any thicknesses for them?

I am interested in the Pavais colletion posted. Being I head a 15th Century reenactment group, I am ALWAYS in research. These pavais presented in the forum are of identical styles to what we need to make for our group. Would anyone have any thoughts on construction?

It says in the excerpts that they were made of willow wood, glued and then Gessoed. Would this practice be similar to Greek Hoplon Shields or Roman Tower Sields? Criss-cross the wood untill the shape and thickness is desired and then gessoe it? I find it interesting they do not cover it with hide or other leathers before painting as the Ancients did, as that helps prevent unreparable damage.

The trench in the center of the shield running from top to bottom center: is this just for strength of construction, or did this house a "leg" with which to prop the shield up?

Any articles you may know of on their construction would be a great aid in our quest for knowledge!

Thanks,

This is how Pavises are constructed as historically as i have been able to tell.
Willow is cut into planks and these planks and then glued together edge to edge at angle with animal glue (rabbit glue). These are then rounded off at the edges and shaped at the top. these are added to a mitre-box shaped piece of wood to get the basic outline. Two strips of wood are placed in the joint between the sides and the channel on the front. The whole surafce then has a piece of medium weight linen glued and gesseod to the front. the design is then painted on and gessoed again to seal it. The back varies a little. on most examples it has the same linen treatment as the fornt minus the painting. a holding bracket or stake holder is then forged and rivetted to the back. This can be done before applying the linen to achieve a smooth surface on the front.
That is how i believe they are constructed and how i will construct mine. i will substitue willow for a cheaper wood and will use wood glue for cost reasons. On more accurate models i plan on using all period materials as this is better for the Lh crowd. The use of glues varies from person to person and generally and hardwood will do but willow is springier and tougher. Any questions?

yes thank you,

Do you have any images of these construction methods? Im afraid I am much better at visual interpitation. :)

You hve given me a good idea of what is represented.

Thank you,

I don't have any images of period construction. The methods for joining the boards is all speculation. This is good well thought out speculation though. i could do you a drawing if you like? I plan on documenting every step as i make mine. if all goes well they could be for sale as early as fall next year, but that is wishful thinking.

Sure! A sketch would be fantastic!

I doubt we will be selling any of ours; not enough of a customer base out here in the US. lol You've got a few million reenactors out your way, I'd bet though! :)

Thanks for your help, I really appreciate it,

err, ii actually tried to do a sketch on paint last night and it turned out nothing like a pavise. i will draw one and fix my scanner, i've been meaning to do it for a while.

I tried to get the thing working but to no avail, sorry for this. I hope the description is detailed enough. I'd be happy to answer any questions anyone has on my method.

no biggie. I'll give an actual axample a good looking over before I start on one so that I understand your ideas better.

Thanks for trying though,

Nice work Nate! Got any documentation on English pavaises?

Thomas James Hayman wrote:

i will substitue willow for a cheaper wood and will use wood glue for cost reasons. On more accurate models i plan on using all period materials as this is better for the Lh crowd. The use of glues varies from person to person and generally and hardwood will do but willow is springier and tougher. Any questions?

What do you have in mind for wood? Were you over here in the States, I'd suggest Poplar, but what's available in the UK?

Are you thinking egg tempra paint?

At the moment i am using pine for the mock up but i'm not sure about willow. i have been told it was used but i am going to ask at the RA as i'm going next week. I have talked about paint in chat and i'm still not sure. Getting the shield done is taking long enough as it is.

One quick comment on construction: once the painting is done, I would not cover it with gesso. The gesso is generally opaque white, and will mask the painting. I would think that some sort of varnish would be more appropriate.

Yes you would be right on that, something that can be homemade and documented to the 15th century. Was linseed oil used? i am going to the RA possibly next week so i plan on asking lots of questions. Theres a nice pavise in the RA with st george as a 15th century knight. He has a sallet on with a split visor, similar to on in the same museum. No pics due to copyright reasons.

I am sure linseed oil was known, as it comes from flax seed and linen was such a common material. Jan Kohlmorgen in "Der Mittelalterliche Reiterschild" indicates that damar varnish was used also. I have not yet tried it myself, but am planning on doing so.

what exactly is Damar varnish and can it be made at home?

Pavise, Flemish, circa 1475:

[ Linked Image ]
Click for detailed version


For comparison, here is a Roman scutum:

[ Linked Image ]
Click for detailed version

I have found documentation that the Pavazes in Germany at least are covered on the face with leather or cloth (linen or canvass). Hope that also helps give some flavor.

in service,

Nearly all WERE or ARE covered in gessoed linen and painted. The ones i have text for have pigskin or parchment on the back of them.

A Bohemian Gothic Hand-Pavise Decorated with Gold and Silver Leaf, circa 1485-90
The Property of an Austrian Nobleman

[ Linked Image ]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION
with rectangular wooden body formed with a strongly boxed gutter, the sides and the gutter all tapering from the widest section at the top, the inner face applied with canvas and retaining a pair of leather enarms, almost certainly the original, the outer face covered in leather decorated with a painted and applied leaf design with elaborate punched and incised detail against a contrasting punched and lightly silvered ground, involving scrolling acanthus sprigs crossed beneath a minutely-detailed figural group of St.George and the Dragon, the acanthus executed in heavier silver leaf with gilt upper surfaces, incorporating seed pods of exaggerated size also picked-out in gold leaf, with St. George drawn in full Gothic armour of silver leaf, including a sallet pushed back to reveal the face, a rectangular basketwork pattern shield charged with a cross, and the borders picked-out in gold leaf throughout, the dragon with tooled scaly body decorated en-suite and slain by a sword, and the painted surfaces preserved in fine muted untouched condition throughout (some of the narrow border strips of leather outside of the decorative scheme replaced top and bottom, the subsidiary edges with minor shrinkage).

PROVENANCE
Schloss Gunterdorf, Lower Austria

This highly distinctive design is possibly unique within the recorded groups of 15th Century Bohemian pavises. The incorporation of tooled detail is particularly unusual. The present example was examined by the late Dr. Ortwin Gamber, senior curator of the Waffensammlung in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. Gamber suggested that the pavise was left at Guntersdorf by troops from the army of Mathias Corvinus, King of Hungary and Titular King of Bohemia (r.1470-90), following their withdrawal from Vienna in 1490.

The closest parallel to the styling of the acanthus pattern is possibly a design for Gothic stone tracery by the noted etcher of armour Daniel Hopfer of Augsburg. Whilst the Hopfer design is of greater complexity the character of the foliage remains very similar and notably incorporates the distinctive seed pods. An example of the Hopfer design for Gothic Tracery is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (Harris Brisbane Dick fund, 1924, 24.68.2).