Hi All,

This was an interesting project and required some interpretation of the sculptures to work out some of the details and a little free wheeling' to make the finished result fit the requirements. The main areas of leather panelling I am fairly sure are slightly wrong, but close enough to given an accurate impression of how the armour would feel, look and behave.

This armour is made for children to try on and so has been sized accordingly.

The armour is made from two distinct layer elements. The inner garment is made from linen canvas with internal layers of wool and silk and then the whole was quilted using hemp cord and the edges whip stitched in linen.

The outer leather elements are made from 2.5mm veg tan leather panels which have been hardened and stitched into place using hemp cord to create an overlapping structure with the knot heads showing prominently. Further detail has been added using red silk ribbon, going right through the leather and padding.

The armour has been sized to fit my 11 year old and a further panel showing the construction and layers has also been made for the children to handle.

The jacket does not have a closure clasp as this would become an area very prone to damage if repeated 'try ons' occur with children who are too large for it.

I hope you like it and of course and comments of questions, please ask away.

Regards

Tod

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An interesting item and nice craftsmanship. Thanks for sharing such unique work.

Were you able to use texts and archaeological evidence in addition to the sculptures, or was this more a free-form "if someone showed me a picture and told me 'make that' how would I go about it?" (Both are fine, I suspect that artisans have been imitating foreign fashions using their own tradition as long as there have been people). The articles by Albert E. Dien spring to mind, since you can download them at most libraries.

Hi Sean,

I did some digging but in the end found very little that I could use and as time was very tight I just had to crack on and make a piece that was close.

I will however look at these as I would like to find out more. That said the sculptures are incredibly detailed and much of the detail is there I think.

Where I suspect we really differed is that this needs to be made to be taken on and off thousands of times by rough kids - one of the most destructive forces known to man kind.

Tod

That is absolutely incredible work . . . especially for being done in an apparent "pinch" when the clock was ticking. I'm presuming this for a museum exhibit of some sort, since you don't outright mention the purpose? If so, can you divulge which one (maybe one of the traveling exhibits)? I think, even for adults, it'd be fascinating to handle the materials and get an idea of different armor styles and construction then many are probably more accustomed to seeing.

Sean Manning wrote

Quote:

Well, the conscript soldiers of the Qin Dynasty were probably rough on their armour too! Their parents might not like to hear that their kids have to stay at the exhibit repairing the armour though!

Only those who have made interactives for museums have any idea about the destructive ability of children in a condensed mass and I can tell you now, it exceeds a panicked soldier in a war zone. I used to design and make them and your eyes boggle at what can be broken in a week. I once made an exhibit using a chain hoist and the best one available to us 'off the shelf' lasted no more than 10 days and we ended up having to make our own. Likewise we used to buy 'mil spec' joysticks which were 'proudly 'squaddie proof' (Grunt proof) and have to rebuild and rehouse them before we could use them.

The armour as shown has at least one layer of leather at all points, but I could only see how to make it 4 layers thick to get coverage everywhere and that would have made the whole piece too thick and heavy, but I do wish I had those books beforehand, as they would have been useful. Thanks for the link.

Tod