shoes&pattens6

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Shoes and Pałtens

120 Incised and scraped decoration. Vamp, quarters and latchet insert from side-latchet shoe (late 14th-century; for reconstruction see Fig. 50). Scalę 1:3.

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Fig. 121d has been decorated with a combin-ation of engraving and of scraping back parts of the leather for contrast. Once morę the effect is sym-metrical, with three main areas of decoration based on a design of simple lanceolate leaves. The marking out of decorative areas in advance is clearly illustrated on this piece, for there has been a slight miscalculation as regards the size and placement of the upper left leaf. If the border was still to be done when the main decoration was en-graved, it would have been possible to adjust the linę of the border to fit the leaf-tip, rather than chop it off.

The fragment shown in Fig. 121a also has en-graved and scraped foliate decoration, again based on symmetrically-placed three-leaf designs which were easily adapted to suit the shapes and corners to be filled. The outline of the pattern, the internal details on the leaves and the margin around the outside have all been delineated with engraving, and the areas between have been lightly scraped away to create a contrasting background colour. The shoe in Fig. 121b has the same basie techniques and elements of design, but the leaves have been stylised and simplified so that they are almost geometrically abstract.

121 Engraved and scraped decoration. Vamps and quarters from buckie- or latchet-fastened shoes (all late 14th-century). Scalę 1:3.