Does anyone have any historical information about covering a shield (mainly heater) with leather? What type of leather was used and how thick would it have been? Were designs just painted right over the leather or was another process used? I know historical info is spotty, so any good recommendation to the above questions would help also.

Thanks.

Stephen.

The majority of artifacts studied in Jan Kholmorgan's work on High to Late Medieval knightly shields are constructed with rawhide glued to softwood boards, covered in gesso, paint and varnish to stiffen the surface. Late Medieval & Renaissance pavises are similarly constructed but sometimes use coarse canvas-like textile instead of or combined with rawhide. None of them seem to be tanned leather.

Thanks for the info, Kel! It's a great help to me. Rawhide, eh? I would have amused that they used soft leather. That will be my next project.

Greetings!
As I recall, someone wrote about the different layers of materials on the shield of the Black Prince, Edward of Woodstock. This was made for his burial, so I don't know if it uses the same materials as a ,,normal" shield does. You can read more about it in the link below. I made my one based on these... Whit inauthentic chrome tanned leather, and doubled fabric, due to the lack of parchment. :)
If you consider the gesso too brittle, you could add some sugar into it. I have red this in a book about calligraphy, although I don't know how common was the "sugar" in the present form of it in the medieval times.
I hope I was able to help!
John

The link:
http://www.myArmoury.com/feature_mow_bp.html

Thanks again guys for the info! You have all been helpful.

So should I apply gesso to the rawhide and paint on that or just paint directly onto the surface? I don't know too much about gesso. It is brittle and will chip off easy? I would love to test out the different methods for myself, but my cash flow isn't so great.

Stephen.

Stephen,

Gesso is basically glue with chalk or plaster. A couple layers solidify the material beneath and provide a smooth ground for painting. There is no necessity to go beyond a couple coats or for that matter add plaster unless you need a smoothly primed surface. Painters' canvas bonded to wood with carpenter's glue then coated with thinned glue is enough. Seal that with paint and varnish as you wish. There is no need to be particular about the materials unless you are making period reconstructions. Shields are consumable items in training. Better ones last longer but they all die eventually.

Hope that helps!