I am very interested in how the coloring of this piece turns out.
Unless I missed a discussion somewhere I thought Sean Manning put the "alum-tawed leather" for the spolas idea to rest in his June post here: https://www.romanarmytalk.com/rat/showth...#pid348921 .
"She has not seen any alum-tawed leather, or any text describing tawing, older than Julius Caesar, and she is not sure that Roman aluta was really tawed. Whereas we have whole museums full of (probably) oil-cured leather from Egypt and 4000 year old texts describing rubbing oil into skins and then dying them with madder and alum."
"I have checked some articles by Gabriela Ruß-Popa and Carol van Driel-Murray, and have finished the section on Hide Products. If I ever research Greek shoes and leather, I might add a few sentences, or those might go under 'shoes.'
I was surprised to discover that there is no evidence for alum-tawed leather before Roman times, and in 2008 Carol van Driel-Murray was not sure the Romans had it."
I was too was surprised that there was no further discussion or questions from the "leather tawed spolas" crowd. There are numerous mentions of Alum Tawed leather being used in Ancient Greece on the net, but no references it seems. Does anyone have a good solid reference?
Did Sean's post influence your decision on how to color your spolas? Why not just Alum dyed?
Please don't add links to other discussions stating "Athens had a booming export industry making white shoes from alum-tawed leather." Until Sean's post I was inclined to believe that as it's mentioned over and over online. I mean we can always trust what we read on the internet right? I'm just very curious why we think Alum Tawed leather was used for anything in Athens at that time? Is there an artifact or rumors of such an artifact as we know researchers are slow to publish and some publications are hard to find. Is there a clear reference somewhere the experts Sean mentions could have missed. That's certainly possible. I've seen ancient pieces in museums laughably mislabeled....by experts. An obviously new wood scabbard on an ancient blade was recently brought to my attention. Is there any evidence that the Greeks before the Roman conquest knew of or used Alum Tawed leather?
I really want to know because I've ordered such a Tube and Yoke and I want it to be as accurate as possible.
Unless I missed a discussion somewhere I thought Sean Manning put the "alum-tawed leather" for the spolas idea to rest in his June post here: https://www.romanarmytalk.com/rat/showth...#pid348921 .
"She has not seen any alum-tawed leather, or any text describing tawing, older than Julius Caesar, and she is not sure that Roman aluta was really tawed. Whereas we have whole museums full of (probably) oil-cured leather from Egypt and 4000 year old texts describing rubbing oil into skins and then dying them with madder and alum."
"I have checked some articles by Gabriela Ruß-Popa and Carol van Driel-Murray, and have finished the section on Hide Products. If I ever research Greek shoes and leather, I might add a few sentences, or those might go under 'shoes.'
I was surprised to discover that there is no evidence for alum-tawed leather before Roman times, and in 2008 Carol van Driel-Murray was not sure the Romans had it."
I was too was surprised that there was no further discussion or questions from the "leather tawed spolas" crowd. There are numerous mentions of Alum Tawed leather being used in Ancient Greece on the net, but no references it seems. Does anyone have a good solid reference?
Did Sean's post influence your decision on how to color your spolas? Why not just Alum dyed?
Please don't add links to other discussions stating "Athens had a booming export industry making white shoes from alum-tawed leather." Until Sean's post I was inclined to believe that as it's mentioned over and over online. I mean we can always trust what we read on the internet right? I'm just very curious why we think Alum Tawed leather was used for anything in Athens at that time? Is there an artifact or rumors of such an artifact as we know researchers are slow to publish and some publications are hard to find. Is there a clear reference somewhere the experts Sean mentions could have missed. That's certainly possible. I've seen ancient pieces in museums laughably mislabeled....by experts. An obviously new wood scabbard on an ancient blade was recently brought to my attention. Is there any evidence that the Greeks before the Roman conquest knew of or used Alum Tawed leather?
I really want to know because I've ordered such a Tube and Yoke and I want it to be as accurate as possible.
Joe Balmos
