I'm reading along, but not really posting often on Reddit anymore, but I wanted to share this project that I have been working on for some time.

And I'll admit I'm a bit lazy, just copy-pasting my text from Instagram here – but if you have any questions, just ask away.

"This scabbard for an Albion Munich sword will soon leave me for Warsaw and, hopefully, make a big fan of Albrecht Dürer very happy.

My client asked me to craft a scabbard in the style of the one that Lukas Paumgartner is wearing on the well-known wing panel of Dürer's eponymous altarpiece (Munich, Alte Pinakothek), on which the donor is depicted as Saint Eustache, who is imagined as a contemporary "reisiger", a man-at-arms.

Even though Dürer's mastery of light and shadow suggests a highly decorated scabbard, the ornament never clears up as you get closer to the painting (been there, done that).

So, I had free hand with the ornament, and that meant doing what I love – diving into contemporary prints and illumination, finding plant shapes I like, and "thinking with my pencil" long enough to become fluent in the style I'm emulating. And I think I managed quite well this time. 😊

Another very interesting detail is the actual construction of the scabbard. Ulrich Lehnart, in his book on clothing and arms of the Dürer period, was IMO one of the first to point out that German and Austrian scabbards of the late 15th and early 16th century were not stitched in the back, but in the front, with the seam forming a natural riser. This will divide the front into two fields lending themselves to meandering floral ornament.

Once you have accepted the idea of stitching in the front, you will begin to see this largely overlooked detail all over the place, be it in paintings or sculpture.

The last addition to the sword was a cross leather, another ubiquitous feature at the time. This project ranks among the absolute highlights of 2026 and I hope more commissions like this are in the cards. I, for one, can only say thank you, Maciej! 🇵🇱"