I ordered a Kingmaker from Albion ( :D WOO-HOO! but that's not the point of the thread) and was curious about historical examples of leather used to wrap grips. With regard to the era for the Regent (mid-to-late 15th C), what would be an appropriate color for the grip based upon historical examples? I have it ordered in black and I am thinking that is rather dull choice (most of my current swords have black leather grips), but is it ahistorical for the period? Oakeshott doesn't mention much in the way of grip leather colors unless it is unusual (for example the bright green on the XVIII.4 that had been covered up by red leather that oxidized to black over the years). From pics in the myArmoury albums as well as pics I've found on the internet from the auction houses, for the most part the pics in color show dark or reddish leather grips. Again, the grips may have been replaced or oxidized dark but this information is not available. I understand that during some periods, quite garish colors were used for grips and scabbards.

For those of you that have access to the originals, what is your experience with regard to leather color for the various periods? We can start with the period for the Regent, but I'd be interested in any observations from 10th-15th C. examples.

Hello Steve

Well there are just about as many possibilities as there are sword buyers. They would have been doing what was popular and desired by the customer of the day. Art work from any period would be one of the better sources to work from as the colors maybe represented more accurately. Many swords that are in collections have been regripped in the later part of there life while in a collection as apposed to their working life. This has led to some misrepresentation of what was period.

In many cases the more garish, with bright colors and fringe the more accurate it is for higher end items. Often the material chosen for covering was fabric as apposed to leather. The fabric was probably higher status than leather in the period. Why so much black leather today? It wears well and does not show stains. With a colored grip, if the sword is handled often the grip will begin to show noticeable wear. I love the worn discolored look on pieces but most sword buyers today dislike staining and wear that show, especially on lighter colors.

Another type of adornment was netting, fringe, or pompoms attached over or around the grip. These were seen on many items in art and there are a few around still retaining these elements. One interesting aspect of these is that often if one does these on a modern replica, todays customer will not buy it.

Hope this helps

Craig

I think i read something from one of Oakeshott's books about them using parchment (possibly over hay?) for grips because the grip would get stained easily and parchment could be replaced easily.
i dunno intresting little factoid i thought. :D

Craig, thanks for the heads up about the artwork! I found this site http://www.fioredeiliberi.org/gallery/ with some paintings. As far as I can tell, the grips (that weren't covered by a hand) were generally very dark but there is one portrait of a 15th C. grip in red to match the guy's clothing. Some of the grips had interesting textures to include cording and perhaps wire or fabrics. I'll see what else the internet will give up regarding the artwork.

Steve

Here is a nice example from the Met.

[ Linked Image ]

Best
Craig

Here's a pic I took at the Philadelphia Museum of Art with the type of grip adornment Craig's talking about.

http://www.myArmoury.com/albums/photo/3532.html

Here is an example of a knotted grip we did on a Tuck. These really do feel good in the hand and give the grip "traction".

[ Linked Image ]

Here is a link to the item in our custom section.

Tucks --http://www.arms-n-armor.com/2000/catalog/item913.html

Craig