Medieval pincase according to an excavated piece from Plzeň (CZ) - green

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Dated 1350 - 1500 (Orna, Dudková 2020)

Two fragments, in the article identified as decorated leather strip, occured to me as two parts of a medieval leather case. Considering the size it would probably be used for pins. It is quite rare to find both pieces of the case, usually it is only the lid or the body of it, so I was really excited to find this one in our local archaeological sources. I used the size of the fragments, only added the missing pieces. Using analogy from Dordrecht I made the inner part from goat parchment. The size and ratio of the decoration is kept as it was, but there was not enough detail in the original piece to replicate the pattern, so I used a stamp found in London instead.

Cases made from hardened leather are part of a personal equipment of medieval people since 14th century. In 15th century they are also quite often depicted even in contemporary art. The pincase is kind of a necessity for every medieval woman as later a small make up kit... Pins are a great part of headwear and even clothes, and are not only a part of a sewing kit.

The case could be worn on a belt, or in a bigger casket. 

It also could be a part of mens equipment, as in the Nachlass von Hermann von Goch, a medieval "bussinessman" , it served for needles for probing precious metals (piece inspired by that one could be found here).

The pin case is made of combination of vegetable tanned beef leather and goat parchment by hardening and sewing 1:1 to original size. The strings are made of combination of plant dyed and regular silk by fingerloop braiding.

The parchment lining has on both sides indentations from a small blade. It is part of the medieval making process and this could be found also on the original pieces of these cases. It has no effect on the functionality or quality of the product itself.

Height: 7cm

Width: 3,5cm

Depth: 2,5cm

Height of the hanging loop: 5cm

1,300.00 Kč