1. Various Early Period Bronze Attempts

I am in that stage where I am playing around with a number of different designs, all of them early attempts. I have plenty to learn and lots of experimenting to do, yet!

 

Wax to Pewter (for tooling) to Clay Matrix:

Gotlandic Animal Head Brooch:

I loved this simple model (for my first attempt that these amazing brooches):

British Museum, see site here: https://britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=68124&partId=1&searchText=viking+key&page=2

 

Here’s what I was able to come up with. These things are so much fun to make! Looking forward to creating different versions, including a proper central Gotlandic box brooch!

Wax casting Viking-Era keys and general wax casting (model inspiration seen in Denmark & Sweden):

As general tools and status symbols for women during the Viking Age (to have a key, one must have something to protect under a lock), I decided they would be cool to make for my wife. Here is my lost-wax casted attempt. The wax was supplied by Master Hrodnavar’s own bees!!

Here are some period examples from the University Museenes and the Haithabu Museum:

 

 

Wax tools for Viking key (also, one box-brooch, a sword hanger, a trefoil and a luna):

The wax has become brass, really. Now there is a TON of cleanup to do!

Some finished examples:

Sword Hangars

So, my friend Bart keeps telling me that SCA folks need period sword hangars, but no one makes them. I went ahead an found a couple of pieces in the British Museum digital archives and am working on prototypes:

Here are two of my interpretations, one in bronze, the other in wax (awaiting casting). Also made sword-strap rings to rivet onto the sword straps. This would allow the sword and sheath to be removed as desired, but keeps the sword from falling off the belt through the use of overlay bits to help keep the strap ring from bouncing off. Note, these are very rough prototypes. Cleaned up copies will be made when the three SCA testers that I have weigh in!

Some extant examples:

 

Where I am at so far:

 

On the left is a prototype with a strap hangar (two per set). On the right is a wax model that is currently in a clay mould that is curing. Hope it comes out!