New guy

[katana]

Hi nKante, welcome to the forum.

Many of the Benin Bronzes I have seen, depict their warriors wearing what appears to be a breast plate, helmet and a 'wrap around skirt'. Few with the scale type armour. But perhaps these are 'ceremonial' wear.
Scale armour has been used extensively by many cultures, although the scales tended to be manufactured from metal. I am wondering whether 'later' Benin pangolin scale armour was in fact bronze.

Heres some info on Pangolin Scales and armour...


They are the only known mammal to possess scales. It is said this armour of scales can deflect a bullet from a .303 rifle fired from 100m. The scales are highly sought after and thought to be one of the most powerful mutis (tribal medicine) amongst some tribes.

Below, is a picture of Armour housed at the Royal Armouries, Leeds.

Legend reads:
Scale coat
Indian, Rajasthan, early 19th century
This coat has been covered with the scales of the pangolin or scaly anteater (Manis crassicaudata). The scales have been decorated in gold, and the larger have been used where more protection is required. This is the only known example of this type of armour. It originally had a helmet, also made of pangolin scales, with three plumes.
The scale coat was presented to the King George III in 1820 by Francis Rawdon, 1st Marquis of Hastinges (1754-1826), who was the East India Company's Governor General in Bengal, 1812-22.

[RhysMichael]

welcome to the forum

[nKante]

I considered using bronze for my scales at one point, considering Benin's excellence in bronze casting. Due to financial reasons I decided to use African cattle hide. I have seen the Indian example before and fell in love. Since African ant eaters are bigger that Indian ones, I decided to make my scales on the larger side. This would also make construction and repair easier. The scales in the only Benin example I've seen were large. Taking into account artistic license.

[katana]

Hi nKante,
if cow hide is used you could 'harden' it by this method....

Basically Cuir Bouilli is a means of making hardened and stiffened leather. Although there is some disagreement among some leatherworkers as to how this is accomplished, there is a significant amount of evidence to think that it was done by molding wet vegetable tanned leather. This leather can be formed into any number of forms, which, on drying, will retain that shape. The wet leather can be set more firmly by drying it under moderate heat, the degree of rigidity obtained being determined by the drying temperature. A faster method, which produces extremely hard and rigid shapes, is to dip the molded leather into boiling water for anywhere from 20 to 120 seconds. This technique causes the partial melting of the fixed tannin aggregates in the leather, making them plastic, causing them to flow and redistribute themselves throughout the fiber network of the leather. On cooling, the fibers become embedded in what can best be called a tough, three-dimensional, polymer network or resin, somewhat similar to the materials made by condensing formaldehyde with substances such as phenol, urea or melamine.

The molding of leather was known in Saxon times in England, and was widely practiced during the middle ages in both England and on the Continent.

LINK WITH MORE INFO
http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~marc...eather/hl.html

It may be worth considering 'scrap' metal rather than new......an old immersion hot water cylinder would provide quite a few scales. Although the metal alloy is mainly copper.....it wouldn't be a bad substitute for bronze.(in appearance). I believe the thickness is around 1.5 mm and being 'relatively soft' could be cut to shape with hand held metal cutters. An added bonus would be that the scales would have a very slight curve....similar to Pangolin scales.

P.S. My Avatar is from a Benin Bronze Plaque

[Tim Simmons]

Some more silly info. In the old African traditions the Pangolin along with other animals are very special as they cross worlds. The Pangolin can be seen as a fish that lives on land, something similar applies to the Crocodile. This crossing of worlds means they tend to be relevant to beliefs/religion and can be see as being capable of delivering messages from one world to the next.

[katana]

Originally Posted by Tim Simmons

Some more silly info.

If thats the case.....a bit more silliness...

The most important anomalous creature among the Lele is the pangolin (manis tricuspis). It has, the Lele explain, the tail and body of a fish, and it is covered with scales, but it gives birth like a mammal. It has four small legs, and climbs trees (Douglas 1975, p. 33). This animal, it turns out, has an important place in the mythology and ritual life of the Lele. There is a cult of fertility centred on it. The reason, argues Douglas, is that the pangolin is anomalous in a crucial way: in addition to everything else, it gives birth to only one offspring at the time. In this regard, it resembles a human more than an animal. Just as the parents of twins and triplets (who are also anomalies on this score) are seen as mediators between the human and the spiritual worlds, the pangolin is seen as a mediator between humanity and the animal world.

[katana]

I also found this about the The Lega [sometimes Rega]..... a tribe found in the west of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.....

. As the Bwami initiate rises in rank so to does the quality and power of his or her regalia. Some materials are restricted as to who can wear them either by prohibi-tion or by financial cost. A hat made from a Pangolin skin [a scaly anteater] may only be worn by the chief, who must have hunted the animal himself. Where as cowries are allowed for the lower level initiates.


I am beginning to think that Pagalin Scale armour was the reserve of the trully elite.....The mystical attributes of the Pangolin, the less common 'armour' seen on the Benin plaques, the fact that a number of tribes saw the Pangolin 'scale' as a more expensive item compared to the Cowry Shell (which was highly desirable and highly valued), that some tribes felt that Pangolin was the reserve of kings.........

....I wonder how much of the protection offered by the scale armour was mystical......a defence against worldly weapons and spiritual attacks...