Hi All,
Whilst on the subject, I've just yesterday finished my Staffordshire hoard Seax, and accompanying scabbard from Bjärs 17.

The blade is by Greg (Thorkil) and the hilt and scabbard are by me. I fell in love with these Seax fittings when I saw them in the Birmingham museum when they first went on display, I knew immediately that I must have them. That was even before they had discovered that there was other fittings including the little pommel.
So I decided to knock them up to compliment Gregs lovely blade, Its the one on his website.

The scabbard is from the Swedish, Bjärs 17 grave, I thought this type of scabbard suited the hilt as the Bjärs 17 Seax hilt arrangement is similar, although less ornate.

This piece was originally going to be commissioned from Dave Roper of Ganderwick creations and my group colleague, However I am a Skinflint Yorkshireman, and it pained me to consider parting with cash, so I decided to make them myself.
1st attempt at Cloisonne, (But not my last)
I surprised myself a little.
I think the important and worthwhile thing here, and I think this goes for all of us, is, that if you want to try and create something badly enough, if you rise to the challenge, it is the blend of skill and patience that result in something you are happy with. I am certainly happy with my result and will be giving it its first outing in a couple of weeks.

---

 Attachment: 150.88 KB



 Attachment: 215.78 KB



 Attachment: 219.45 KB



 Attachment: 223.65 KB



 Attachment: 214.12 KB



 Attachment: 175.09 KB



 Attachment: 191.48 KB



 Attachment: 244.73 KB

Wow .... that is stunning, the detail is unbelievable. Thank you for sharing

Randy

I love the way that you worked the knot in the wood into the handle. The artwork on both the handle fitting and the scabbard are outstanding. You deffinantly did that blade justice.

Absolutely stunning.

How did you shape the garnet?

Holy cow... This is an amazing piece of work. Bravo!

-Gregory

WOW! :eek: That is HOT! :) Great work!

WOW, that's astounding! The blade, the handle, the sheath are all spectacular.

Lovely job, my beardy brother. I think you can be justifiably proud of that one. As good a piece of work as I've seen.

Nice one Bruce ;) ..look forward to seeing it when I get home

best
Dave

Very seaxy! Great job.


Paul

Fantastic work Bruce

I can totally see why you are pleased with it!

The detail is great - and everywhere and I especially love the scabbard.

Tod

So beautiful! :eek:

Wow Bruce, That really is nice. I have held it and have to say i am impressed!!!

Most excellent reconstruction of the Bjärs 17 scabbard! The knife is of course excellent and the cloisienne work looks antique even which I like a lot. But I'm awestruck by how well these finds go together.
I also think it's the first time ever anyone in modern times replicates the Bjärs/ Valsgärde type wood & plated scabbards and this looks just so sweet. That red... Spot on.

The only thing I see that differs from the exact scabbard find is the strapping loops, on the wood scabbards they were usually iron omega tuning fork-like loops nailed to the back and protruding through the side plating. But the ones you put on there are the typical style used for scandinavian leather seax scabbards and I heartily approve those as well and not all wooden scabbards have the loops intact anyway so who can say what they were. These are also from seax sceath finds and can be supported by a great number of other finds from the same timeframe and look very pretty.
Very nice indeed! A++ in my book. ;)


I have to ask, are these plates embossed or cast? Is it possible you might sell sets to other craftsmen by any chance as I also wish to make a Bjärs 17 scabbard?

That is gorgeous!

Yup, that qualifies as a bona fide jaw dropper . Promise us that you won't bury it in the ground somewhere...nor allow anyone to place it on some flaming drakkar.

Absolutely amazing work!
As soon as I saw those fittings I new it would only be a matter of time til one of you guys had one!

[ Linked Image ]

Is this a glass enamel?

Your work is absolutely stunning.