Possible Leather Bottle for the 10th Century

I decided to look into this to have a period way to carry liquid around events.

This is an educated guess at two possible designs for a water bottle in the Viking Age for Western Europe. To my knowledge no leather bottle remains have been found or recognized for the 10th century. Carved wood caps have been found as well as a pottery example that resembles a leather container. A written example was left by Archbishop Ælfric's colloquy in the 11th century

The one on the left is a three part version, the one on the right is a two part bottle.

materialsbees or equivalent wax for the insideparaffin for the outside4-6 ounce vegetable tan leather for bottle and shoulder strapwaxed linen thread or artificial sinewsandwood dowel or branch to make a stopperpaper to make a pattern

toolsneedles awlpencilknife or shearsfunnelwood dowel smaller than the neck openingpot to melt wax inladle or spooncircular punch

SkillsPatterningleather cutting and piercingsewingplaying with sandpouring hot molten wax.

ConstructionI have used the sand forming method in these two examples.

The first step is to make a pattern on paper. Try to make it symmetrical. A gusset can be added to the base to make the bottle stand easier. Do a paper mock up first to make sure the pattern works. Find a piece of wood that will be the lid. Make the neck wide enough to fit the lid. A leather stopper could also be used.

Once you have a working pattern, trace it out onto the reverse side of the leather. You will want to draw on the rough side. Then cut the leather out.

The next step is to make the holes around the edge to sew through. You can use a multi prong tool to make more than one hole at a time. Place the holes 5 mm or so in from the edge. Make sure the holes line up on both pieces. If the holes are not even the bottle will have a twist.

Using a saddle stitch sew the parts together. Make the stiching tight to stop leakage.

After the sewing is finished, soak the leather in cool water till it is soft and flexible.

Using the funnel pour sand into the neck opening. I use the wood dowel to keep the sand moving. Put as much sand in as possible. The leather will expand as more sand goes in. Try to keep the bottle symmetrical. Roll the top of theneck of the bottle in to help stiffen the hole. When the bottle is mostly full put the lid in place.

I like to place mine in the sun to dry. I find this works well and the leather does keep its shape. I use the same technique on my sheaths too. Let the bottle completely dry before going farther. I also use the round punch to make holes for the shoulder strap at this time.

After the leather is completely dry, melt paraffin or bees wax at the lowest possible temperature. I do mine on my bbq grill. Be careful wax burns easily. If the wax is too hot it can burn the leather. Again make sure the leather is dry. (wet leather explodes in hot wax) Dip the bottle in the wax or use a ladle to pour the wax on. Leave the sand in and the lid on for this step. The weight of the sand stops the bottle from floating on the wax. You want as much wax as possible to sink into the leather. This technique is know as Cuir Bouilli.

After the wax dries, pull out the lid. Pour out all the sand. If any wax leaked through the seam you will need to shake or knock it loose. I use the wood dowel for this. Rinse the inside out to get the remaining sand out. Again let it dry completely before pouring wax in the bottle. Do not hold the bottle with your bare hand the wax will burn you. Use the ladle to pour the bees wax into the bottle. swish it around to coat the entire inside of the bottle. Pour out the excess, then repeat till a layer of wax a few millimeters thick is formed. This is important since you do not want your drink to be contaminated by the tanning agents in the leather.

After it cools fill it with cool water and let it sit to see if it leaks. If a leak shows or the water level drops let it dry several days and then recoat the inside. Add a shoulder strap. I also make a hole in the lid to tie it to the shoulder strap so I do not lose it. The last step is to buff the outside to smooth out the wax. This also fixes any overflow from coating the inside. A hair drier works great to heat up the wax.

some of the tools used in this project

Works Cited

Lowe, Steven, Varangian Voice, Issue 41 November 1996 , Bullaburra, NSW and conversations with the author.

Nurmann, Schulze & Verhulsdonk, The Vikings Recreated in Colour Photographs, Wiltshire, Crowood Press 1997 (1 86126 289 2)

Scribner’s Sons, Charles, Anglo-Saxon England, NY 1979

Talbot Rice, D, The Dark Ages, Thames and Hudson, London 1969

Lang, James T. Viking-Age Decorated Wood A study of its Ornamentation and Style Royal Irish Academy, 1988 (ISBN 0 901714 68 2)

Database of Irish excavation reports. Details from most of the digs in Ireland. Sorted by finds, location, timeperiod, author etc.http://www.excavations.ie/Pages/HomePage.php

Thaddeus Breen’s Irish Archaeology Page. One of the best sites I have found including the Email addys for many of the archeologists. http://www.xs4all.nl/~tbreen/

The Royal Irish Academy, The top authority in Ireland.http://www.ria.ie/

Baker, Olver, Black Jacks and Leather Bottells, 1921

Crowe, Rob, How to Make a Viking Leather Water Bottle, March 2004 Hide Side

uiChonchobhair, Tadhg macAedain, Constructing Leather Bottles: The Art of pounding Sand, Gulf War XIV A.S. XXXIX Class

The best Irish reenactor site.livinghistory.ie

Contact informationsethrun.magaoinghous@livinghistory.ie

.Version 1 July 2008

Copy right info 2008, Feel free to share with anyone but leave all information attached. Please contact the author before posting on the web or other publications. I believe I have given credit to all works cited as well as people who have helped. Special thanks to Cathus for the wax, Steven Lowe for the pottery photo, The Royal Irish Acedemy, and especially John Nicholl whose work was of great influence. Many of the copyrights on the photos belong to people other than my self. They need to be contacted prior to their use.

the two above pictures are from Anglo-Saxon England

stoppers from Dublin West Viking context.

"I buy my hides and skins and I prepare them by my craft, and make them boots of varying kinds, ankle leathers, shoes, leather hose, bottles, bridle thongs, flasks and bougets, leather neck-pieces, spur leathers, halter bags and pouches, and nobody would wish to go through winter without my craft." - Archbishop Ælfric's colloquy, 11th century