Little Box of Treasures

Japanese helmet, early 17th century, created by Myochin.

(Walker Art Museum)

Riddick | Armor Detail

[ INTERVIEW ] J. Arthur Loose (J.Arthur Loose, Metalsmith)

Today’s guest has been already featured on the blog, but it is only fair that he gets his own interview as well. Art of Swords sat down with J. Arthur Loose to talk about his sword making experience. Enjoy!

J. Arthur Loose: I have been interested in myth, folklore and archaeology since I was in high school. I went to Maine College of Art and majored in Jewelry & Metalsmithing, where I got a very solid education in basic techniques and visual thinking.

I worked for various jewelers, traveled, and finally settled into a position to start making knives & swords. It’s been 20 years of economic ups and downs, lots of trial and error, and slow progress learning and refining technical skills and artistic expression, but I think I’m finally getting to the place where dreams and ability come together.

J. Arthur Loose: My parents were archaeologists in the American Southwest. As a child I saw these Hopi, Navajo and Zuni people wearing incredible amounts of jewelry- it set them apart culturally, and as I started reading up on the history of myth and culture worldwide, I became fascinated with Northern Europe’s metalworking traditions.

So many stories to tell in those lost, encrusted objects of iron, silver and gold!  I took some jewelry classes at 16 years of age and went off to art school at 17. So I can safely say that it has taken over 25 years to learn the skills acquired, but certainly not the skills required. I’m not done with this journey, by far.

J. Arthur Loose: I am a self-employed artisan, so while I do make them professionally, I think it is very difficult in this day and age to make them exclusively for a living. I sell silver and gold jewelry, stainless damascus jewelry, knives, drinking vessels, and I teach. Sometimes it is fun, and sometimes it is not so much fun, but always, it is necessary. I must make swords.

J. Arthur Loose: I specialize in Migration Era / Viking Age pattern welding and blades, but I don’t specialize in specifically historically accurate pieces.  I want them to tell a story, or reflect something in the modern age that is ancient.

That doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t be fully functional, or that they shouldn’t conform to functional aspects of a given style of blade, but I want them to reflect the great lacuna that exists between history, myth, and the contemporary industrial age.

J. Arthur Loose: It’s probably Elding, because it was the first sword I made that really captured the symbolism and technically historical techniques that really inspire me. Elding is a very intriguing Old Norse word with layers of meaning.

It means dawn, and fire, and lightning, and the darkness, over a long period of time subtly shifting in meaning.  The symbols are European fire / sun symbols, inverted and repeated in niello, a wonderfully ancient alchemical technique of fire and smoke and poison.  It certainly marked a dawn for me.

J. Arthur Loose: The biggest obstacle has been economic survival, and balancing the time required to make a sword with the time required to earn a living.  I think many smiths would agree that the market these days has a hard time supporting a full time swordsmith. It’s actually a symptom of the modern malaise that many of my contemporary artist swordsmith colleagues seek to oppose in some grand collective Quixotian vision.

J. Arthur Loose: I have played in various re-enactment fighting groups since I was a teenager.  While they aren’t precisely the techniques one would use with true swordsmanship, they are a great primer for studying sharp-edged, live steel techniques. 

I am presently looking into some of the more historically inquisitive Viking Age organizations who try to examine these issues, as well as later, Renaissance era great sword techniques for which we have actual books and manuals.  It’s very exciting to see more of this kind of thing happening, which was fairly unknown when I first decided that I wanted to make swords.

J. Arthur Loose: Patience. A good friend and colleague once said, “I’m not a patient man, I’m a stubborn man.”  There is s subtle difference, and the same is true for me.

J. Arthur Loose: Don’t give up.

Thank you, Jay!

For more information about J. Arthur’s work, check out his website!

Yatangan Sword

The sword has a short, slightly curved and single-edged blade. The blade has engraved floral pattern and Arabic letters on one side only. The hilt is embossed with silver and niello, featuring floral patterns, extending onto the blade. The straight grip has its distinctive pommel spreading out in ‘ears’ or 'wings’. The scabbard is embossed in silver and gilt with complex floral patterns.

ALL HOLLOW MAGAZINE FALL ISSUE 2013 • FASHION EDITORIAL

JOAN OF ARC / ALL HOLLOW MAGAZINE • 2013 • LONDON, UK

PHOTOGRAPHER Paola Leonardi FASHION STYLIST Ana Rita MAKE UP ARTIST Ashley Mclaughlin

see more here

Bronze Dagger

The dagger features a narrow triangular blade with a thick midrib, scaphoid-section guard, and a rectangular grip with integral pommel.

Longswords are not ‘manly’ and rapiers are not ‘un-manly’

This man deserves an award. 

Gentleman Knight

Dragon Crusader Full Suit by Azmal

Toothface helm by an unknown Italian artist from the 17th century

Frog-mouth helm (or Stechhelm) - It was used by mounted knights between the 14th and 17th centuries.

Bascinet from the 14th and 15th century

Sallet in the Shape of a Lion’s Head, c….

Source: [x]

A very useful set of simple charts for armour research. I wish there were more.

just in case some people try to say they don’t trust this source: here’s usa today, the original one, and if you take a look at that you can find the professor responsible for these quotes. he teaches at the university of stirling and he has a doctorate degree in medieval history. hella

Yep.

Aaaaaw, yeeeess

Megara

oh my god yes

A breakdown of medieval armor, since a lot of pieces are required to create a full suit.

Robert Ingpen

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Steampunk Gothicism and Art Deco Cold-Drip Coffee Makers by Dutch Lab

via Homeli.co.uk ~ { Facebook | Twitter | Tumblr }

Foot-Combat Armor of Prince-Elector Christian I of Saxony (reigned 1586–91)

Anatomy of the Rapier

There are a lot of things that could be said and mentioned here, the rapier being quite a complex weapon, but this short and quick presentation should do. 

A rapier is a long, straight-bladed cut-and-thrust single-handed sword optimized for the thrust and featuring a guard that affords good protection to the hand; the rapier sees its apogee between the last third of the Sixteenth Century and the end of the Seventeenth.

The rapier anatomy of the rapier is broken into two distinct parts: The blade, and the guard.

The blade of the rapier describes the long sharpened piece of metal which all the other parts surround or attach.

At the base of the rapier blade is the tang, which is a long tongue of metal that descends into the guard and ends at the pommel which is screwed onto threading or attached more permanently through [peening] or welding.

The unsharpened section of the blade beginning immediately after the tang. When placing a guard onto the blade, the crossbar block slides over the tang and then rests against the ricasso, preventing it from sliding further down the blade. The ricasso can extend from the crossbar block to the outer sweepings or guard shell (meaning the sharpened or more tapered edge of the blade begins immediately after the guard) or further down the length of the blade. The edges of the blade at the ricasso are square/flat.

The sharpened part of the blade is generally what is referred to when speaking of the ‘blade’. This part begins after the ricasso and is the part of the sword used for striking and defending.

The edge of the blade is oriented with the crossbar of the guard and aligns with the knuckle of the hand when holding the sword so that the knuckles lead the edge. On a rapier there are two edges that you can identify when it is held: the true edge (on the same side as your knuckles) and the false edge (on the same side as the base of your thumb).

The part of the blade opposite the tang and pommel that is used for penetrating the opponent.

The lower half of the exposed rapier blade, generally used for defense. In Italian the Forte.

The upper half of the exposed rapier blade, generally used for offense (cutting and thrusting). In Italian the Debole.

The guard of the rapier is the part that protects the sword hand of the wielder.

A counter weight at the base of the blade, just behind the guard.

A spacer between the counter weight and handle.

The part of the rapier that you hold. Handles can be made of wood, wood wrapped in wire, wood wrapped in leather, and some other materials. Some handles are shaped to provide comfortable grooves for your fingers or provide other handling or comfort characteristics.

The crossbar block or alternatively the quillion block is a piece of metal that mounts to the blade just above.

The crossbar or quillions are a rod that extend perpendicular to the blade, on either side, and are used for protecting the hand, binding blades, and deflecting the sword of the opponent.

The rings and other rods that make up the guard and protect the hand.

Sometimes referred to as the knuckle bow, the knuckle guard is a bar or bars of metal that extend down in front of the sword hand, protecting the knuckles. The knuckle guard can be used to identify the true edge of the sword.

The cup or shell is a solid plate of dished metal that surrounds the hand, typically in place of the sweepings, but sometimes in combination on some guards.