Those that have been following my work might remember that 2.5 years ago (September 2010) I declared my intention to start two
long-term projects, horsehair sporrans based on the paintings of Kenneth MacLeay (most styles worn in these paintings are never seen today outside of a lucky family collection or a museum)

...and the start of my brass cantle project.

I was driven by frustration at the difficulty in finding ANY lovely old cantles and the museum-grade prices they commanded when they did rarely surface for auction.

These were my two original sketches-


The idea of casting the cantles fell by the wayside after the original master came back from casting - so I began to work on built-up construction.

The round cantle design was brought to life last summer-

The half-octogon with the round bottom profile has now been crafted as well:

Front view:

Bag in soft chocolate cowhide, sporran badge supplied by the commissioner

Detail:


Bag is riveted and wired onto the cantle, laced on the back.

By the way, this is nearly the last time you'll see this particular hide, as popular as it has been with my commissioners I have gone through nearly the entire hide (roughly 70sq ft).
The balance is reserved for one more commission.

As always, constructive commentary or critique is most welcome.

ith:

BTW: unfortunately the original project thread is now locked, but there are new developments in the MacLeay horsehair project which will be coming to light in a new thread in the not-too-distant future as well.