AoA

Whoo!  So one of my scrolls sitting in the " I've been Given but not Recieved"  folder has dissappeared.  I had info from several sources at Crown that she finally recieved it, and was stunned by it.  Yay awards.

Pretty straightforward copy for this one.  I actaully REALLY enjoyed this style.  I chose it on the motive of I have several of these that I could do for the 30 Day challenge and I haven't done this style before.  It's French, Parisian in fact and has been dated to 1480. I used brown drawing ink for the letters, to show the fading of the ink on the manuscript.

The text reads as follows: 

Hearken all unto the words and desires of the sovereign King of the Midrealm Dag and his Queen Anne Marie.  Long have we heard tale of the many good deeds that Ylva has rendered unto our Barony of Shattered Crystal.  In recognition of this service we are minded to grant upon her the right and privilege of arms.  She may choose and register with the College of Heralds those arms most personally appropriate and display them upon shield, pennon, tabard, and personal documents as she sees fit.  Written in the the record by the hands of our scribes upon this the thirteenth day of April in the year of our society fourty seven at this celebration of Carnival

More non-scrolly fun.

So, a bunch of my scrolls have been given but the recipients haven't been there.  So they can't be posted yet.

To keep people from getting bored I shall entertain you with things not scribally but still SCA related.

New Macclesfield Blanks

Yay!  Teenyblanks from the Macclesfield Alphabet book! I just wanted to do the smaller initials so I did them.  One G/O and another D/S. 

More blanks

So i finished up a new blank that I passed to Mistress Gwenhwyvar Nocturnal who will write upon it in teensy tiny letters for which she is so well known.  It was amazing to watch her write a pelican promissory right there across the table from me.

The blank is from Johannes Albinus, Excerpta ex Blondi decadibus Naples, 1494 which resides in
Munich, Bavarian State Library, Clm 11324.  It is rather striking. However the photo on my camera corrupted so you will have to make do with only the exemplar until a photo is passed on to me. 

Tja, I have another in this book on my table, so I can have a go at the hand.  It is not one that I am aquainted with.

Fun with Japanese Scrolls

This one has been sitting in my NOT YET GIVEN folder for a while now.  It is a Baronial Award for Ayreton called the Order of Ríáin Star.  

Inspired by a Japanese Kasuga Deer Mandala from the 15th century that I found in the Online gallery of the Art Institute in Chicago.  Their online gallery is quite extensive and I recommend a look if you've never gone through it.  It's worth it. The original is Ink on Silk and is just Exquisite.

Now, for this one I did translate each and every word in Google Translate from English to Japanese.  I know that the context and syntax will be wrong for some of the words, but as I do not speak or write Japanese with any fluency I thought I managed fairly well. I will find the English transcription here shortly.

 With and without the Seal of Ayreton.  I sealed it myself, so there was no confusion about where it was supposed to be.  I wanted it there.  :D


TRANSLATION: Unto all to whom these words come know that we Henry, Imperial Baron of Ayreton, and Nadezda, Imperial Baroness of Ayreton, are mindful of the time, labor and love that Kinji has most freely given unto the Barony and its cantons. These who best serve the Barony make the very stars weep to see them, and so in responce to his honor upon the fencing field and the graciousness he displays to all, we are minded to make him a Companion of the Order of Riain’s Star. Done by our hands by the gods direction this 12th day of January , in the year 47 of the society.

Now this has aged, but I don't think I matched the colors as precisely as I could have.  Perhaps next time I'll try painting with watered down ink and see how that works, since that is what they would have done.  /shrug

Indian Blanks

Saraswati gets to go home a bit for this next blank.  I love the Mughal style of art (probably a reason why I have an Indian persona), and their elaborate flowers and animals.
It came from the Diwan of Hafiz 1586.  It is housed in the Museum of Islamic Art, Doha, MS. 63.

Nobelese Largesse

So I got a position in the last Nobelesse Largesse Exchange which is a Knowne Worlde A&S Secret Swap.  I recieved a beautiful silk banner painted with water patterns and lotusblossoms.  PERFECT for my persona. 

I recieved a Welsh Crusader as a recipient.  Now I knew next to nothing about the crusades, so I hit the books.  Knights of the Crusades was one such book as well as Wales and the Crusades by Kathryn Hurlock. 

I found a wealth of information that was interesting to me making something small for a crusader including: that crusaders were given a cross upon their swearing their entry into the crusaders and that they often wore garnet for divine protection against wounding.

I found a tiny picture of an 11th century pilgrims pouch and looking at it something went 'ping' inside my head.  I would make for him a rosary to be held in his pilgrims pouch.   Now rosaries were traditionally bone and wooden beads for the poorer person, with red coral and pearl beads being for the more fashionable. They could even get elaborately guilded beads in there as well if you had lots of money and wished your piety to be seen and spoken of.  Usually they were loops of up to 150 beads with a cross on the end, but males much more commonly had straight rosaries of 10 or 20 beads with either 2 fancy Gaud beads at either end of the 10 ave beads, OR 1 fancy Gaud at one end for a Paternoster bead and a Tassel at the other end for the other paternoster bead.  These rosaries were traditionally bound in red silk thread, to honor the blood of christ. 

It coalesced into this. 

Deus Vult!

 One, Crusaders Cross Gaud- hand cut from a fresh slaughtered, hand treated/steralized bovine femur.  Then handcarved and shaped.   It was then attached to a tenner of red coral beads, and a handwound tassel.  The recipients colors were Green and yellow, so I decided to use emerald thread instead of scarlet to reflect the recipient.

 Handsewn linen bag, lined unfortunately with emerald green corderoy.  I didn't have anything else that was emerald green and I could not at that moment afford to purchase new fabric for such a small project.   The embroidery was done in a simple split stitch (which is all the embroidery that I have ever mastered) and reads Deus Vult, "God wills it!"
The braiding is embroidery floss, a 4 strand braid that was mainly decorative to cover the seam lines.  3 handwound tassels complete it.  If I had to do this again I would make the tassels floofier, use more floss in order to make them thicker.