aka Gary & Jenny go Tacky ....... Again !
Just to prove how bat shit crazy we really are - Having just done the Oseberg 156 Chest
we have decided to do a reproduction of the Oseberg 149 chest as well
In 1904 a remarkable archaeological site was uncovered at Oseberg, Norway.
It consisted of an astonishingly well-preserved Viking ship that contained the remains of two women along with a wide array of accompanying grave goods.
This vessel, which is widely celebrated as one of the finest finds of the Viking Age, had been buried within a large mound or haugr.
The burial mound measured approximately 40m long by 6.5m high and it completely covered the boat.
The conditions within the mound were particularly damp and this meant that the ship and its contents survived nearly intact.
Professor Gabriel Gustafson and the crew. Photo: Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo/ Olaf Væring.
Excavation of the Oseberg ship in 1904. Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo/ Olaf Væring.
You can read more about the Excavation at The Story Begins
Centrally placed on the ship were the skeletons of two women whose remains had been placed in a specially built wooden tent.
One of the woman was in her eighties and this was reflected in the condition of her bones which showed that she had suffered badly from arthritis during her final years. The second woman was younger and had died in her early fifties .
The connection between the two women is unclear; it is possible that they were related or more sinisterly represent the remains of a noble woman interred with her sacrificed slave.
Indeed, some have speculated that one of the women may be Queen Åsa, the grandmother of Norway’s first king, although this remains unproven.
For a List of what was contained with in the Ship Grave By the Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo/ Olaf Væring.
Photos from the Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo and Chest Plan from Osebergfunnet Vol II by the Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo
the Museums Photos don't show the details of the hinges of the Oseberg 149 chest but they were the same as the Oseberg 178 Chest Hinges
from Catalogue of extant chests and caskets by Sven Skildbiter ( Stephen Wyley)
Oseberg (Norway) Chest No. 149.
Our Friend & fellow Hodegon NVG club member Asea the well Traveled ( Sharon Turvey )
went to Norway on holiday in July 2013 and kindly took some awesome photos of the chest for us,
so we could get an idea of what the ends and other part of the Original chest where like
These Photo filled in a lot of the gaps of knowledge we had on the chest
- so we are very grateful to Asea ( Sharon ) for taking the photos for us
Project started on Aug & Sept 2013
Project finished on - not yet - its still in construction
Special Thank you to
Sven the Merchant / Sven Skildbiter ( Stephen Wyley) , Mike Smith, Stosh Thegan ( Joshua Woods )
& Asea the well Traveled ( Sharon Turvey ) and Budd Weston for their help in the research & construction on this project
To find out what the difference were between the two chest - we drew up two full size spec drawings of the chests
And what we found the differences are :-
Slope Angle on the Front is 12 degrees >
Slope Angle on the Ends is 3 degrees
Front & Back Length at the top of the chest is 104 cm
Front & Back Length at the base of the chest is 106 cm
Ends width at the top of the chest is 28 cm
Ends width at the base of the chest is 36.5 cm
Height of the Chest is 41 cm
Lid 106 cm long x 28 cm wide
4 Hinges
Lock & hasps - missing
note: The Front & Lid are missing on the original so the measurement on them have been calculated by us from the existing pieces.
Slope Angle on the Front is 5 degrees >
Slope Angle on the Front is 6 degrees
Front & Back Length at the top of the chest is 106 cm
Front & Back Length at the base of the chest is 113 cm
Ends width at the top of the chest is 29 cm
Ends width at the base of the chest is 32 cm
Height of the Chest is 38 cm
Lid 108 cm x 29 cm
9 Hinges
Lock with 3 hasps
wood - pine from local hardware shop
34 Forged nails - from Talerwin Forge
Lock & Lock hasps - help with the construction of them from Stosh Thegan ( Joshua Woods )
Mild steel strips for the banding where purchased from Innovative Metal Fabrication in Bayswater , Victoria
width 65 mm x 0.5 mm thick
Ends - 3 metal bands
Back - 7 metal bands
Front - 7 metal bands
Lid - 9 metal bands
870 Upholstery tacks from a ebay seller
Stud Total - 870
Ends - 152 studs
Back - 222 studs
Front - 172 studs
Lid - 324 studs
7 hinges made of 4 mm flattened wire
Lock with 2 hasps made of 3 mm squared wire
( the original had 3 hasps but since we have never made a lock & these types of hasps before we have decided to only do 2 hasps )
Because we don't need two large chest we have decided to to make this one not as long as the original
Length Front & Back - at top 80 cm
Length at base 89 cm long
Height 39 cm
Width of the Ends at top edge 25.5 cm
Width of the Ends at base edge 29 cm
and because we have shortened it we will only use 7 hinges instead of 9
Our Plans for building this chest can be purchased from Sven The Merchant
We estimated that 1000 Upholstery tacks might be needed for the project - these were obtained from an ebay seller
the projected ended up using a total of 870 Upholstery tacks
- Front has 172 tacks,
- Back has 222 tacks,
- Right end has 152 tacks
- Left end has 152 tacks
- Lid has 324 tacks
The knocked up - crash test dummy version to see if it would work - what the inside view would be
7 set of hinges sitting on the lid
The original chest had 9 but because we are doing a chest that is not as long as the original we are only putting on 7 hinges on this one
Doing the Hinges
chiseling the lid where the hinge will sit
Filing the lid where the hinge will sit
Marking out the base where the it needs to be chiselled out for the hinge
The base & lid where the hinges sit
The base where the hinges sit - metal bands will sit over the top of these so all that will be seen is the loop
Cutting off the excess
You then have to take base part of the hinges out and do the lid hinge part
Then put the base ones back on
Hinging the lid
Hinging the lid - with the base part hanging down
Hinging the lid to the base - with the lid part hanging down
The Oseberg 149 chest hinges - theses are a right ( please insert creative swearing here ) to do
It hasn't been very successful - from the out side they look good
but on inside they wont clench over tight enough on the base part and we have tried everything we can think of and the more we hit them the worse they seem to loosen up
Hinged at last -
Warning this is a right bitch to do these hinges !
If we were to ever try doing them again we would hinge the lid to the back
and then put the back on to the chest
- to make it easier the get in and clench the hinges over
You Live and learn !
Mild steel strips for the banding was purchased from Innovative Metal Fabrication in Bayswater Vic.
We had them cut it into 65 mm x 0.5cm thick strips for us
Mild steel strips for the banding are width 65mm x 0.5mm thick
Ends - 3 metal bands
Back - 7 metal bands
Frount - 7 metal bands
Lid - 9 metal bands
a test photo of one of the studs we used on the other chest on the mild steel - to gauge what it would look like
We not sure yet if we are going to use these or try and find some thing else that is flatter to use
- we ended up getting some flatter studs to use.
Preparing the mild steel banding that is to go on the chest
Yayyyyy all Done ! There are 870 studs Now we just have to make the lock and harps for it
Back of the Chest - has 222 studs
Frount of the Chest - has 172 studs note: the plain metal strip is just showing where the lock plate will sit when its done
Ends of the Chest - 152 studs
Lid of the Chest - 324 studs
Our Friend & fellow Hodegon NVG club member Stosh Thegan ( Joshua Woods ) was the locksmith who has help us by making the 149 chest lock for us and also helped us with the construction of the hasps closure for the lock.
We are really grateful to Stosh for helping us with part of the chest construction
Oseberg 149 chest lock - start of construction - shaping the locking bar - work being done with help from Stosh Thegan
Locking bar
start of construction on the Lock plate shaping the locking bar & ward plate & key
Stosh finishes making the Lock plate and Gary & Stosh fit it on to the chest
View from the inside of the chest of the Lock
View from the out side of the chest of the Lock
We have used the same key that we got with the lock of the Oseberg 156 chest that we purchased from Mike Smith of Miklagard NVG
These were made by a friend Budd Weston who had also made them for the Oseberg 156 Chest for us
Chests was Finished on 30th Oct 2014
Chest has been given a rub over with Furniture Orange Oil
There are 870 studs on the Chest
References:
The Kulturhistorisk museum - the Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo
key search words : Osebergfunn = Oseberg Find
The Story Begins Excavation of the Oseberg ship in 1904. Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo/ Olaf Væring.
Oseberg Fundet, Vol. ii & Vol. III- Brogger and Schetelig,