A late 14th c. (1380-1400) cuisse from Croatia with gothic lettering

[Raf]

Its called wriggle work. Standard engraving technique created by rocking the engraver from side to side

[AHorsa]

Does anyone know about the meaning of those letters? Are they epigrams or so?

On mine I read "IO VEM" or so. Not sure about the direction.

Kind regards
Andreas

[Reventlov]

Originally Posted by AHorsa

Does anyone know about the meaning of those letters? Are they epigrams or so?

On mine I read "IO VEM" or so. Not sure about the direction.

Maybe IO VENI? Could mean something like "Look! I am coming."

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/io#Latin
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/veni#Latin

[AHorsa]

Originally Posted by Reventlov

Maybe IO VENI? Could mean something like "Look! I am coming."

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/io#Latin
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/veni#Latin

Thank you! That fits perfect. Looking at the images on a mobile / at wider distance I totally agee with your Interpretation! Are other inscriptipns documented and can be translated? I can't identify the letters ob the single strip that Leonymus posted

[Reventlov]

Originally Posted by AHorsa

Thank you! That fits perfect. Looking at the images on a mobile / at wider distance I totally agee with your Interpretation! Are other inscriptipns documented and can be translated? I can't identify the letters ob the single strip that Leonymus posted

You're welcome.

One common inscription is the bible verse Luke IV:30, Iesus autem transiens per medium illorum ibat ("Jesus passed through their midst and went on his way"). This can be seen on many items, including armour, weapons, and jewelry, because it was believed to be a protective charm. You can see portions of this phrase on two of the pieces Leonymus shared. The inscription on his cuisse does seem to be nonsense though, and purely decorative.

[AHorsa]

Great. Thank you very much!

[fernando]

Welcome to the forum, Leonymus .
... And so good that our members helped you with your question .

[LeonymusBosch]

Originally Posted by Reventlov

You're welcome.

One common inscription is the bible verse Luke IV:30, Iesus autem transiens per medium illorum ibat ("Jesus passed through their midst and went on his way"). This can be seen on many items, including armour, weapons, and jewelry, because it was believed to be a protective charm. You can see portions of this phrase on two of the pieces Leonymus shared. The inscription on his cuisse does seem to be nonsense though, and purely decorative.

Can you remember where the single strip from the picture is from? Thanks!

[Edit]

Nvm, found it...

[LeonymusBosch]

Originally Posted by AHorsa

Does anyone know about the meaning of those letters? Are they epigrams or so?

On mine I read "IO VEM" or so. Not sure about the direction.

Kind regards
Andreas

Would you mind if I use this photo in a conference presentation? Perhaps the paper as well, but not sure about that yet.

You found it in Germany, right?

[AHorsa]

Originally Posted by LeonymusBosch

Would you mind if I use this photo in a conference presentation? Perhaps the paper as well, but not sure about that yet.

You found it in Germany, right?

It would be an honour.
Sadly I don´t know for sure where it was found - I got it from an old collector more than 25 years when I was child. It is very possible that it was found in Germany, as he had it with some German stoneware fragments as far as I remember. But he did also travel a lot, so I can´t tell for sure.

[LeonymusBosch]

Originally Posted by Raf

Its called wriggle work. Standard engraving technique created by rocking the engraver from side to side

You're 100% right, thank you!