European Shirt of mail 15th century
Most of a shirt of mail. One sleeve missing. It may have been cut away to form a gusset. The remains of the shirt have very nice details. The shirt includes a standing collar formed of heavier rings. The wire from which these rings were formed is thicker than the main body rings and the overlap for the rivet is even larger. This makes it stiff enough to stand up and protect the neck. The remaining sleeve is short. It does not seem to be due to loss. There are a few brass rings at the lower edge showing that the original form remains. The bottom edge is asymetric. The back is shorter than the front. There is a central slit in the front. Rings with noticable swelling at the rivet. The rings are vaguely triangular in section. The inside is flat, the front is beveled slightly throughout the ring, more aggresively at the rivet overlap. Some rings obviously attached with wedge rivets, others not as clear. The inside of the rivet is flush with the body of the ring, the outside forms a nice head. Brass rings at the bottom edge have iron rivets.
Not for sale.
Piece of Mail 16th century
Piece of Mail labeled as German. Small brass borders. Wedge rivets.
Not for sale.
European Mail collar 16th century
Mail Collar. Formed of very small rings (app. 1/8 inch i.d.) of round cross section. Taper formed by the addition of a triangular gusset in the middle. 6 1/2 inches tall. Body of rivetted rings. Wedge rivets. Border of 3 rows of brass rings - 2 of solid punched rings and one riveted. Formerly in the collection of Leonard Heinrich - armourer to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY.
Not for sale.
Piece of Mail 16th century
Piece of Mail. Rings of round cross section except at the overlap. All rings rivetted. Wedge rivets.
Not for sale.
European Mail Shirt 16th century
Shirt of mail. 16th century, likely German. Long sleeves. Rings of flattened form. Slight swells at the rivets. Wedge rivets. A band of smaller rings around the neck. Open at the front. Overall formed of alternating rows of solid and riveted rings. A band at the front on each side formed of all riveted rings. Rings in the body app. 5/16 in. i.d., often forming slight ovals instead of perfect circles. The smaller rings at the neck app. 3/16 in. i.d. The "collar" formed of 11 rows of small links and one row of normal sized rings at the border. App. half of the sleeves formed of somewhat heavier all riveted rings with cruder rivets. Careful inspection shows that this sleeve extension has been added with butted rings and is closed by a row of butted rings so this was almost certainly added after the working life of the shirt. Significant losses. Round brass collection tag with "707".
Not for sale.
piece of mail 16th century
Piece of mail. 16th century, likely German. Alternating rows of riveted and solid rings. Flattish form with swelling at the rivet. Watershed form on both sides of the rivet overlap. Rivet heads pronounced on the outside and flush on the inside. Rivets seem to be wedge shaped. Some losses. 10 1/2 in tall, 35 in. wide with the mail stretched wide. Rings vary in size, in general the riveted rings are larger than the solid ones, all somewhat larger than 1/4 in. inside diameter. Solid rings vary in cross section - some very thin, some more washer-like. Some of the solid rings seem to have some flats on the outer edge as if they were punched from sheet and sometimes a ring overalapped the edge of a previous ring. Includes at least one spot near a current hole that includes 2 rings that appear to be working life repairs. They are in a solid row and show distinct round rivets.
Sample ring measurements - punched rings thickness - .050, .060, .082, .044, .055, .080, .060. Riveted rings thickness - .040, .055, .056, .045, .064. Outside diameter of riveted rings .415, .412, oval-ish one .400x.435. Inside diameter is hard to measure, but a few sample punched rings are .260 and a few sample riveted rings are .280.
Not for sale.
Mail shirt 16th
Mail Shirt hip length with short sleeves and collar. Open at the center of the neck. Rings of flattened form, entirely riveted. Wedge rivets. Collar of slightly heavier rings somewhat more crudely made. The rivet heads on the collar on the opposite side. This indicates the collar was added, almost certainly during the working life of the shirt.
Not for sale.
Mail Sleeve 16th century
Formed of small rings with app. 7/32 inch inside diameter measured with a ruler. Wire thickness measured with a dial gauge app. .030 in. OD of rings app. .270 varying noticably as many of the rings are slightly oval. For these rings the ID would be app. .210 inch or 5.4 mm. This is consistent with the rough measurement. The sleeve includes an area covering the shoulder and armpit, full sleeve with bend at the elbow and tapering to the form of the arm. Rings of rounded section with flattened area for the rivet. All rings riveted. Wedge rivets with the back set flush and front forming a a shallow point. Rings of consistent size. No signs of decorative rings at the edge of the gusset. There are a very few remaining rings that are likely brass at the cuff. Small losses, but relatively sound.
Not for sale.
Mail Sleeve 16th century
Formed of small rings with an inside diameter slightly over 5/32 inch. round section wire was used to make these rings. The rings in the body section are thicker than the rings at the end of the sleeves. In the body the wire is app. .038 in in diameter, the end of the sleeve is .029. The outside diameter of the rings is app. .240 in. With area covering the shoulder and armpit, full sleeve with bend at the elbow and tapering to the form of the arm. Iron rings of round cross section all riveted. The flattened area at the rivet is slightly bevelled on both sides forming a cross section that is roughly a diamond shape. Wedge rivets flush on the inside and forming a shallow point on the outside. Very small rings. Decorative border of copper alloy (brass) rings at the edge of the gusset and at the wrist. Border of alternating solid and riveted rings of 4 rows of solid and 3 rows of riveted rings. Small and medium losses, but overall form remains.
Not for sale.
Mail shirt 17th century
Mail Shirt, probably Eastern European. Formed of varying size and thickness rings. The rings over the chest are much heavier than those in the skirt and sleeves. Formed of alternate rows of riveted and solid rings. The rings are 3/8in i.d. The rings at the chest are much thicker than those at the edges. The rings have a roughly "wankel" cross section. App. 31 inches long. Opens down the entire front. Details show rings from the collar, chest and skirt.
Not for sale.
Mail shirt 18th-19th century
Mail Shirt, eastern (probably). Small rings (app 1/4 inch i.d.) of round cross section. Overlaps heavily swelled and rivets set flush to ring surface. The torn rings show that the rivets were wedge shaped. 44 inches long. Neck opening includes a small slit in the front where there is overlapped mail.
Not for sale.
Maker"s ring circa ?
Maker"s mark ring from a shirt of european mail.
Not for sale.
Piece of Mail circa ?
Piece of mail.
Not for sale.
Piece of Mail circa ????
Piece of Mail
Not for sale.
Piece of Mail circa ????
Small piece of Mail. Each ring stamped with parallel lines. Wedge rivets of brass.
Not for sale.