Iron clad wooden bucklers -- myArmoury.com

Stephen Curtin · Posted: Fri 03 Jun, 2011 3:53 pm Post subject: Iron clad wooden bucklers

I'm sure alot of you have seen these Norwegian bucklers before, but for those who haven't http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB3/viewto...an+buckler

My questions is, does anyone know of bucklers like these found outside of Scandinavia?

Stephen Curtin · Posted: Fri 03 Jun, 2011 11:39 pm Post subject:

Heres one I've found at the British Museum http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_...mpages=200 though I'm not sure where it came from or what time period it came from. I'd still love to see some more examples of similar shields if anyone here knows of any.

Eric W. Norenberg · Posted: Sat 04 Jun, 2011 12:33 am Post subject:

Hi Stephen!
Have a look at this older thread:
http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t...mp;start=0

I think these bucklers are pretty groovy. They do seem to be (in my limited knowledge) a Scandinavia - only phenomena. The item in your second post was found in England but the museum's copy reads that it is of iron and leather, the only wood bit being the handle. Probably an example of "parallel evolution", rather than an actual kinship.

Cheers!
-E

Stephen Curtin · Posted: Sat 04 Jun, 2011 2:39 am Post subject:

Hi Eric, thanks for pointing out that the shield in the British Museum has a leather core, not a wooden one. Thanks also for the link to the other thread though I had already seen it.

Eric W. Norenberg · Posted: Sat 04 Jun, 2011 9:05 am Post subject:

No, thank you for bringing this subject up again! The repro in the link you originally posted is quite cool. With the ironwork being of round section and the pieces being secured only at the "quarter hours", I wonder if there would be a possibility for trapping (intentionally or not) the tip of an opponent's weapon between iron and wood?

If you happen across more images of either originals or repros, please do share!

Stephen Curtin · Posted: Sat 04 Jun, 2011 10:59 pm Post subject:

Well Eric I don't have any good pictures of it but there is a shield in the Royal Armouries Leeds referred to as a Welsh buckler (if you type Welsh buckler into google, it's the first result) that has many concentric circles of raised iron bars, also (I think it's the second result) there's a discussion over on SFI about the use of these bars for trapping the tips of blades.

Stephen Curtin · Posted: Sat 18 Jun, 2011 5:14 am Post subject:

Still looking for examples of wooden bucklers with re-enforced iron elements, so for anyone who didn't see this thread before I'd much appreciate some assistance. Thanks in advance.

Kel Rekuta · Posted: Sat 18 Jun, 2011 6:43 am Post subject:

There is a lovely 14thC wood & iron buckler in the Museum of London.

http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/London-Wall/...ts/329496/

I have also researched "Welsh bucklers". They tend to be an iron framework over leather / rawhide or a bazillion nails clinched through the leather / rawhide foundation. None that survive appear to have be mounted on wood. The complex curvature doesn't suit cost effective wood construction techniques.

Stephen Curtin · Posted: Sat 18 Jun, 2011 11:09 am Post subject:

Thanks Kel, if you happen across any other examples I'd love to see them.

Johan S. Moen · Posted: Sat 18 Jun, 2011 11:51 pm Post subject:

Here's a buckler, albeit a very large one(50+ cm I think?), from Oldsaksamlingen in Oslo. I can't seem to find it in the museum database, but I believe it has roughly the same dating as the other norwegian bucklers(I could be wrong though).

Sorry about the picture quality, they were taken in a bit of a rush, and the glass case the buckler is in didn't help either....

Johan

Stephen Curtin · Posted: Sun 19 Jun, 2011 1:20 am Post subject:

Thank Johan, great pics.