1300's ish water costrel

Llwyd

Forager
Jan 6, 2013
243
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Eastern Canada
I made a leather costrel over the course of a few weeks. It involved shaping the leather wet over a form and then letting it dry, sewing it together and hardening it with beeswax. The lanyard is braided with strands of jute that were first twisted into cords. The bung is carved from maple and all together the capacity is about a liter or about a quart. The water has stained the beeswax finish (it is not dyed) but that does not affect its function.

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Llwyd

Forager
Jan 6, 2013
243
2
Eastern Canada
Very nice.

You wax dip it or oven, etc?

Interested as I've made a leather flask and i wonder if I need more wax to coat the inside.

I filled it up with liquid beeswax a few times then put it spout down in the oven at 100F and watched it so that it did not pancake. Then I filled it with beeswax and dumped it a few more times.

The pattern I made from one at the museum of London and a couple they found on the Mary Rose.
 

Goatboy

Full Member
Jan 31, 2005
14,956
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Scotland
That's a lovely conglomeration of skills there. I really like the looks of it, was it made for a reason or did you just fancy one? Be interested in seeing a side view and a wee look at the strap too.

Nice work,
GB.
 

Llwyd

Forager
Jan 6, 2013
243
2
Eastern Canada
I do some medieval reenactment stuff and just enjoy projects in the winter. The strap is a six plait braid, the individual strands started at six feet long and were twisted and doubled into three foot cords then braided.

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crosslandkelly

Full Member
Jun 9, 2009
26,495
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North West London
Just looked up the word Costrel, interesting.

Definition of COSTREL
: a flat usually earthenware container for liquids with loops through which a belt or cord may be passed for easy carrying —called also pilgrim bottle
Origin of COSTREL
Middle English, from Medieval Latin & Anglo-French; Medieval Latin costrellus, from Anglo-French *costrel, from costere side, from coste rib, side — more at coast
First Known Use: 14th century.

Also googled some pics.

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Llwyd

Forager
Jan 6, 2013
243
2
Eastern Canada
Actually I started a "guild" of campers, loosely based on Medieval Foresters. Most everyone has modern camp gear but there are a few of us purists. I will snap some photos at the event in June as we just got 2 feet of snow yesterday and another foot on the way today. The medieval people are fair weather campers for the most part.

I do mostly modern camping too but at the elite end of the spectrum, guiding canoe trips for weeks at a go.

Just looked up the word Costrel, interesting.

Your 4th picture from the museum of London is where I got the dimensions for this project. I do not like leather tooling and decoration though so I left mine plain. I hope to beat it up in the field for decoration.
 
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Goatboy

Full Member
Jan 31, 2005
14,956
18
Scotland
Cheers for the additional stuff Lloyd. I too like it looking plain as I feel that the common folk may not have had the money for decoration on everything. Plus I have a liking for plain brown leather burnished by age.

The straps really nicely done too. It's funny when ever I smell fresh just it reminds me of going to see one of my sets of grandfolks as they'd moved into Dundee, and on the way in we used to pass some of the jute factories that the city was famous for. Especially in the summer their doors were flung open to cool down and the smell of jute would pervade over large distances.

Great bit of kit and I look forward to seeing your pictures of your medieval camp kit. (With a big bowl of pottage in hand!)

ATB
GB.
 

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