Before you bust a gut laughing...

[Harry Faversham]

Just remember there's no such thing as a daft question, though this one might be the exception wot proves the rule... 
I've just painted my very first Norman Knight and wondered about his shield. What colour for the rim, is it wood or steel, did they paint the rims? Now the daft bit, I've chosen the shield on the bottom right of the set. Would my Norman bloke have a gunmetal shield boss poking through the middle of his dragon thingy or would he have got one of his handrags to paint it the same colour as the transfer!?

[Cherno]

Wikipedia says:

Most shields featured some form of reinforced rim, generally toughened leather, although some historians believe the rims on certain shields would have been constructed from metal.

If it was metal, I doubt that it was painted because metal doesn't take paint well (as well all know ). I also doubt they painted or laquered leather, especially on an expposed edge.

[Mr.J]

I know a lot of reenactors use rawhide.

There isn't a great deal of archaeological evidence, the most common shield find is the metal boss, which means that it is most likely that the rest of the shield has degraded. This probably means that most wouldn't be made of metal, although some were, as there would be some remains. I hope that this makes sense.



I paint mine as a mixture depending on the status of the warrior, my best troops sometimes get metal ones the others I usually paint as hide. I personally think the hide ones look better but it's all a matter of preference really.

[Mr.J]

If it was metal, I doubt that it was painted because metal doesn't take paint well

Not to be contrary but quite often metal would be painted to protect it from rust, not so much with shields which were seen as reasonably expendable, but with helmets and later sometimes with plate armour.

[Harry Faversham]

Thanks chaps, wot about the dragon thingy with a shield boss in it's midriff!!!

 

[Atheling]

Mr J is absolutely right IMHO

Darrell.

[Arlequín]

Me too... I suspect the boss would have been painted too... but how many faces you've smashed it into might determine the amount of paint left on it.

 

[v_lazy_dragon]

For what it's worth, as an (anglo-saxon) reenactor, we don't paint our shield bosses and I can't remember seeing any painted Norman shield bosses at Hastings this year (although that wasn't what I was particularly focusing on during the battle, I've checked some photos and they seem to confirm that none of the bosses were painted).

Ditto-ing what previous people have said about shield rims...

[The Dozing Dragon]

[von Lucky]

The first thing I think of when seeing that picture is that we're gluing our rider on wrong.

[janner]

What evidance I've seen also suggests rawhide or leather edging, not have I seen support for painted bosses. That's probably because, unlike higher worth items, such as swords, shields may well have been considered expendable items with replacements kept fairly close at hand. So no one was going to worry too much about a bit of rust.

[Damas]

From my experience as an Anglo-Saxon re-enactor, the shield edges have always been wrapped in leather (rawhide doesn't do well in damp conditions and this is England )
Painted bosses are rare, paint that sticks to metal needs to be oil based with a very high pigment to suspension ratio, whereas most period paints are based on an egg tempra suspension and wouldn't last outside.

If you're going for a standard Norman knight shield then the wonky cross or plain colours or quarters are better than the wyvern and also avoid the rich colours of deep red, any blue and any purple at all.  red and blue on your lord and purple on Bishop Odo if he's visiting.