1520s Ornate Woman’s Gürtel (belt)

This highly ornate belt is based on an extant belt in the Musée de Cluny, and would have been worn by an early 16th century German noblewoman.

In 2023, Armour and Castings offered a new set of elaborate belt fittings based on this belt as a limited pre-order, with an estimated development time of 6 months.

I had taken many pictures of this belt on our visit to the Cluny in 2006 – such a wonderful piece! And although it was much more ornate than my usual style, it would be a fantastic addition to my Green Velvet Cranach gown, so I joined the initial funding order, knowing it would be some time before delivery.

There were many delays in production over the next two years, but I kept in touch and received news of the various stages along the way – design, wax mould, rough cast… And at last the pieces arrived – stunning!

Research & Design

The original belt is on display at the Musée de Cluny, where I took photos of several details on our trip to France. It was made in the Rhineland and dated to 1520.

The belt is described in detail by Ilse Fingerlin (1971) in her catalogue of German belts: it is 145cm long, 2.2cm wide and covered in red velvet. The ornate buckle-plate and chape are made of silver-gilt (gold-plated silver), as are the 58 cast mounts, which are attached with protruding silver rivets.

Ornate belts were well known amongst the noble German women at the time, worn with their rich garments. The examples I have seen are not worn tight, but loose on the waist with the chape end hanging down at either the front or back of the gown.

Zander-Siedel (1990) describes the fashion for fancy Gürtel covered in velvet, silk or embroidery, with black and red the most common colours. The fittings ranged from expensive silver-gilt down to cheaper brass. Undecorated belts are rare, with most belts supporting 5 to 33 mounts in many forms, especially stars, roses and medallions.

The Cluny Gürtel is clearly at the top of the range – red velvet, with fittings of silver-gilt and precious stones, and 58 silver-gilt mounts!

The reproduction set comprised the buckle (with buckle-plate) and chape, but did not include the mounts. Armour & Castings did have mounts of the right shape, but they much too large. I spent some time online trying to find something that would work, and ended up ordering gold-plated sun charms from Ali Express. They will need some work to adapt, but should give a good effect and were not expensive.

Neither the museum or Fingerlin’s catalogue detail what the belt base is made of, but leather or linen canvas supports were both in use. Based on the thickness of the belt, I suspect that leather would provide a better support for the 58 mounts, which are quite thick. There are other extant examples of textile belts over a leather core, such as the sword girdle in the V&A (T.35&A-1938).

My photos show that the belt has a gold textile backing, sewn onto the red velvet. From the degradation on the side, I think this is gilt thread over a silk core, either woven as fabric or band woven. None of my gold silks looked right, but I did find some bold grosgrain ribbon, which gives a band woven effect.

My belt will be made from leather, covered in red silk velvet, with a back lining of gold ribbon. I will match the original belt size (145cm x 22mm), but will have fewer mounts, since mine are larger.

Construction

First, a series of trials to test all the element – strap size (to allow for velvet), finishing the back with ribbon, the best way to site the mounts, and making an eyelet mount.

The leather base needs to be strong but flexible, so not too heavy – something in the 1.5-2mm range, but my suitable hides are not large enough. Medieval people had this problem too, and there are several extant belts where 2 pieces are joined with glueing, stitching and or through-mounts to make a longer belt.

I cut 2 x 20mm straps and skived (shaved) the flesh side off both pieces to give a 3cm overlap, then glued this with leather paste. It won’t need stitching – the velvet cover and mounts will provide extra support.

Next, I cut the belt to length, then reducing the ends to fit into the buckle plate and chape, allowing for the thickness of a velvet cover all around (this is visible through the piercings). I worked the belt well in my hands to ensure it was supple.

Then measuring the mount spacing – mine look good at 2.5cm. I marked the belt, then punched small holes to take the brass pins (no need to punch the velvet). I’ll need larger holes for the eyelet mounts, but I’ll do these after the belt is covered and backed.

Next, adapting the purchased charms into mounts. I needed 50 standard mounts and 3 eyelet mounts, but made some extra just in case.

I set up a jig to hold the mount in place while I drilled small centre holes. The ring on one leg stops the mount rotating – most convenient! Once the jig was adjusted, it was a fast process to place, drill and remove the mounts.

Then I cut off the loop with pliers and rough ground two pairs of points flat on the linishing belt. The next stage was shaping each of the four trimmed points on the linisher – over 230 of them, so a bit tedious. Well, a lot tedious.

To seal the exposed steel and further smooth the ends, I painted the 4 cut ends on each mount with gold modelling paint. Mounts finally done!

The next step is covering the belt.

My original plan was to use the scraps of the red velvet I’d kept from my very first Cranach gown, made decades ago. A luscious red half silk and full of sentimental associations! I wasted a lot of time trying to piece the length I needed, ensuring all seams were under a mount and avoid the worst crush marks. In the end I realised this was not going to give me the result I was after. Ah well.

Plan B – a slightly less deep red half-silk velvet, which only needed 1 join. Not special, but so much easier!

In In 17th-Century Men’s Dress Patterns 1600-1630 (2016), Jenny Tiramani suggests that an early 17thc silk covered sword girdle in the V&A collection was constructed by first glueing the fabric to the leather, then sewing on the backing and edge bindings. This approach worked very well in my testing, so I applied leather paste to the belt, then positioned this on the back of the velvet.

Once dry, I sewed the edges together – they meet over the narrow ends (which fit into the buckle-plate and chape) and leave a gap on the main belt, so the rivet holes are left clear.

Next, the ordinary mounts, leaving spaces for the eyelet mounts later.

The originals have tall rivet heads, so I’m adding a jewelry spacer under the head of the brass escutcheon pin to add height. I thread these through the mount and velvet, into the holes I punched earlier.

On the back, I thread on another spacer to act as a washer, use side-cutters to clip the pin, make sure the mount has not rotated, and then peen the end to set it. Then I cover the back with the gold ribbon, felling each side

Now for the eyelet mounts. I drilled larger holes on 3 mounts to take the brass eyelets, then trimmed and finished as for the plain mounts.

I punched larger holes in the covered belt and trimmed the ribbon cleanly on the back. Then I threaded the brass eyelet onto the drilled mount and through the belt. At the back I added the washer, checked the mount position and then set the eyelet mounts.

Finally, attaching the buckle and chape. The rivet holes are tiny (<1mm), so I tossed up between using brass sewing pins as rivets or sewing them on.

Either way, I need to mark the positions to make holes in the belt, rather than try and force through the leather. Marking velvet is tricky, but gouache works well – this is how I mark out velvet for embroidery. And once dry, any excess is easy to remove from the metal.

My practice run with the brass pins was not encouraging, so I decided to sew on the fittings (I can always replace them with rivets later).

And the belt is done!

I think the rich red velvet really sets off the fittings, and it is as faithful realisation of the original as I could manage (given the lack of the perfect mounts). I love the way the red velvet is visible in the piercework of the buckle-plate and chape, adding another layer of richness.

And it works really well against the dark green velvet of my Cranach gown.