I have a question for any mail armor experts lying around that doesn't involve cutting. ;)

In my studies I've run across references in le chanson de Raoul de Cambrai and some other works to colored mail. They mention colored white and bright. I was thinking that perhaps they were referring to the same thing in different ways but upon re-reading I don't think so. I've recently seen some pictures of painted helmets that Nathan has been kind enough to show us, and that made me think that perhaps it was a reference to painting. Is there any evidence that mail was painted? Would this have had any detrimental effects on the mail in terms of efficacy? I just think it would be interesting if the middle ages were more colorful than we thought.

While there certainly would have been colors of mail I doubt painting would have been very productive as the mail would have worn it off itself in very short order. I would say "white" or "bright" would be refereing to shiny steel/iron color. Other colors would have been black or blued and gold colored ( this being bronze or possible gold coated rings, though again the wear factor would be a problem with the gold). There are also examples of tinned mail rings ( a tin coating to help stop corrosion)and this would also appear as a whitish/silver color i.e. oxidized tin.

Best
Craig

Hi Alina,

I'm not sure how much I can provide, but here's what little information I can pass along. I've done and still do quite a bit of work with maille, but honestly have never dedicated a lot of time to researching any painting that may have been done. As mentioned by Craig, maille has a tendency to rub against itself when worn. In a sense its a good thing since this will allow the rings to clean themselves. I'm sure a present day method of painting may hold up (powdercoating?), but when you look at what was available during the time period for paints I doubt anything would have had a long life on maille rings.

Personally, in my younger days, when I was first learning to work with maille I made the mistake of buying wire from more then one manufacturer and ended up with a shirt that had 4 different tones of galvinized steel. To add to the mistake I attempted to mute the colors by dipping the shirt in a solution of diluted Muriatic Acid only to strip all the galvinizing off the rings. A quick note here for any that may not be aware, the gas that is let off during this process is noxious and contains arsenic if I remember correctly. Needless to say I didn't try it again :)

What I was left with was a shirt of raw metal that began rusting overnight. I attempted to use a Cold Galvanizing Compound that Krylon makes in a spray and it immediately rubbed off after just handling the shirt. This was after letting it dry for a considerable amount of time. I ended up taking the shirt and having it dipped in a Nickel bath, but thats another story.

Here's a link http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Library/2036/LIM2.HTM (not sure if I did that right) that takes you to a page which discusses how the various colors were made, although no mention is made about coloring armor. It does however show you just how many colors were available to an artist at the time (late 16th century). While armor may not have been as colorful, surcoats, banners, coat of arms, clothing, etc I think more then made up for this.

Hope that helped some :)

Non-blued or otherwise unfinished metal is often referred to by tradesmen,even in modern day, as being "in the white".