Oseberg 156 Chest
The Chest of Oseberg 156 of Awesomeness
Construction photos of The Chest of Oseberg 156 of Awesomeness
by the totally insane Thatshim ( Gary Baker ) & Indunna ( Jenny Baker )
Background history on the Original Chest
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.
The Ship under excavation
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.
Museum photos of the Oseberg 156 Chest
The Museum's Photo of the Original 156 Chest
- this the back side of it the front side & lid where missing
and there are no museum photos showing the ends
Photos from the Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo
Details about the Oseberg chests from Osebergfunnet Vol I ???
Details on the Original 156 Chest
from Catalogue of extant chests and caskets by Sven Skildbiter ( Stephen Wyley)
Oseberg (Norway) Chest No. 156.
Photos of the Original 156 Chest taken by Sharon Turvey - July 2013
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
showing the hinge loop
you don't often get to see
any photos of the ends
Our Reconstruction of the Chest details -
Project started on 11 Aug 2013
Project finished on - Finished 3 April 2014
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 of this project.
So What is the Difference between the 156 Chest and the 149 Chest ?
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 :-
Oseberg 156 Chest
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.
Oseberg 149 Chest
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
So this was used as a starting point for our construction
where we couldn't find answers from the Original Oseberg 156 chest because pieces where missing
we turned to the Original Oseberg 149 chest for the answers
Our Plans for building this chest can be purchased from Sven The Merchant
The Museum's Plan of Oseberg 149 Chest
Chest Plan from the Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo
Construction Materials Used:
wood - pine from local hardware shop
34 Forged nails - from Talerwin Forge
Lock from Mike Smith
Lock hasps made from squared 3 mm wire - help with the construction of them from Stosh Thegan ( Joshua Woods )
1555 Upholstery tacks from a ebay seller
- Front has 369 tacks,
- Back has 385 tacks,
- Right end has 138 tacks
- Left end has 138 tacks
- Lid has 525 tacks
4 Hinges made from flattened 4 mm wire
Chest dimensions -
Length Front & Back - at top 103 cm & length at bottom 108 cm long
Height 41.5 cm
Width of the ends at top edge 28.5cm at bottom 37cm
Construction photos - The Great work starts ...... or ........ how Gary & Jenny went tacky
We estimated that 2000 Upholstery tacks might be needed for the project - these were obtained from an ebay seller
only half of the 2000 tacks
The projected ended up using a total of
1555 Upholstery tacks
- Front has 369 tacks,
- Back has 385 tacks,
- Right end has 138 tacks
- Left end has 138 tacks
- Lid has 525 tacks
Chest of 156 Oseberg of awesomeness next to the oiled Oseberg 149
Thatshim Working out where the lock and tacks will go
cut out for the lock placement
The Lock is on
The lock & Key were purchased from
starting to put the tacks on
That's the 1st side done - The Front has 369 tacks
The Ends are done - Left - has 138 tacks Right - has 138 tacks
The Back has 385 tacks
Back is done - the gaps on the top row are where the hinges will go
The Lid has 525 tacks
the chest after its been oiled with orange oil
Making of the Hinges
the hinge set layed out flat
The knocked up - crash test dummy version to see if it would work - what the inside view would be
The knocked up crash test dummy - side view
cleaning up the wire
flattening out the 4mm wire
Filing the wire
putting the hinges on - Looking at the horseshoe part that goes on the base of the chest
horseshoe part that goes on the base of the chest - with the support staple
putting the hinges on - Looking horseshoe part that goes on the base of the chest - with the support staple
putting the hinges on - Looking horseshoe part that goes on the base of the chest - with the support staple - from the inside of the chest - these will need to be clenched over yet
putting the hinges on - the lid strap part of the hinge - Outside of the lid view
putting the hinges on - the lid strap part of the hinge - inside of the lid view
putting the hinges on - the lid strap part of the hinge - inside of the lid view
putting the hinges on - the lid strap part of the hinge which has now been threaded thru the horseshoe part of the hinge
With the lid attached
Its Looking pretty Awesome !
a total of 1555 Upholstery tacks
- Front has 369 tacks,
- Back has 385 tacks,
- Right end has 138 tacks
- Left end has 138 tacks
- Lid has 525 tacks
Making of the Hasps
Making of the Hasps
Our Friend & fellow Hodegon NVG club member Stosh Thegan ( Joshua Woods ) who was the locksmith on our 149 chest lock helped
us with the construction of the hasps closure for the lock that we got from Mike Smith
starting to make them - they still need to be cleaned up
But Stosh and us were not 100 percent happy with our 1st attempt at the Hasps
So we asked a friend Budd Weston if he could help us make something better
All finished
We have just finished one of our major projects the Oseberg 156 chest
a very special Thank you to Budd Weston who help us by made the hasps for the chest
Finished 3 April 2014
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,