I finnished this sabertache a couple months back.
And I thought Id see what the world thought of it?

Magyar 9-10th c, Karos cememtry grave 2, Hungary.

silver components gilded in gold, like the original

128x113 mm like the original

N

sorry

A picture would help wouldnt it? Oh natural tanned leather bag, conjectural construction. Original leathers have perished.

N

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Beautiful work.

What he said. Plus, thanks for teaching me a new word (well, you and google).
Regards
Geoff

Wow! Lovely design, elegant and effective. Nice work!

Stay safe!

That's absolutely fantastic. Can you describe it for us and tell us what techniques and materials you used, etc?

Thanks for the feedback!

In Hungarian its called a tarsoly (tarshoy) And it seems to be a type of rank symbol peculiar to magyar/khazar peoples.
Later/or during the time the rus copied the fashion. They are usually found with a flint and strike a light inside or under the cover.
The Hungarian models are by far the most exquisete and usually are the only ones that are made with a plate covering the whole surface of the bag ( khazar /rus tarsoly's are usually made up of small plaques on the bag face, still nice though.)

Ok the cover is made of .2 thick fine silver I hatched the design with a graver then recessed the background with believe it or not a plastic knitting needle ( plastic doesnt leave any nasty marks?) The originals seem to be made in a similiar way using pitch and small hammers plus graver ( maybe a wooden tool to recess backgrounds?). The plate is then painted in masking paint in negative so the gold platting doesnt adhere to parts that are to remain silver, all backgrounds are gold.
The borders are lost wax cast in silver then plated. They are pinned by small rivettes through the silver plate and peened onto a copper back plate.

All in all it did take months in preperation ( I stuffed 2 attempts before this one, costly!) And lots of practice on junk pieces of silver.

Thanks again, sorry about the sabertache missunderstanding? I think its a french word?

Heres a pic of the original, very good condition considering its over 1000 yrs old!

Sorry couldnt find a full pic of it, go to tarsolybearers homepage, theres heaps on there.

Also if you are interested get a copy of "The Ancient Hungarians" The best book on the subject, filled with some amazing military equipment of the magyar horseman. If anyone wants the isbn I will post it up.

N

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Hi

larger view with strap ornament.

Thanks again!

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