Barrel-shaped leather costrel build

Written in 2018 and posted on my Tumblr blog

Leather costrels of fairly similar design were in use for at least 400 years, so when I decided to make a water bottle that I could use for a number of periods, it seemed like the obvious choice!

This is the second costrel I’ve built, but the construction method I used the first go ‘round resulted in some leaking spots that I just couldn’t seem to fix (which is much more likely to be due to user error than a problem with the method), so I took another stab at it. I even remembered to take pictures this time!

Since my primary period is 14th century England,  I based my costrel on a few images from medieval artwork and a couple extant examples:

Even though most of those examples look to be round (although the extant ones are kind of squashed), I decided to put a flat bottom on mine so I wouldn’t have to worry about it rolling around too much. That’s pretty common in later (18th century) examples, but I don’t know when that started.

In order to make the ends of the costrel fit without cutting or folding them (that’s what caused the leaking issues in the first one), I made a (very) rudimentary jig to shape the ends.

Woodworking is not one of my gifts… 

I used the jig to form wet leather, which held it’s shape when dry. I cut it deliberately large so I could trim it after the fact and not have to worry about precise placement. The jig wasn’t pretty, but it got the job done!

I forgot to take a picture of the main body of the costrel before stitching the top, but it was effectively a long rectangle with matching shaped ends. I punched all the stitching holes, then stitched the top of the costrel to make it easier to fit the sides into place. I trimmed the excess leather off the shaped ends and stitched them into place, punching the holes in the ends as I went – due to the curves of the ends, the space between the holes needed to vary to match the outside holes.

After attaching both ends, I wet the costrel thoroughly then packed it full of barley. This stretched the leather outwards a bit, slightly increasing the capacity. It also helped prevent the ends from collapsing inward during sealing. A  LOT of barley fit in that sucker!

The creases at the base of the neck were bothering me, but then I saw that they were present on some extant examples, so it may just be a product of the stretching process. I sealed the costrel with a mix of beeswax and brewer’s pitch. I aimed for a mix of 1 part pitch to 2 parts wax, but it was all by eye.

I initially used a cork to close the costrel (it worked well enough for an overnighter), but I wanted something more authentic, so I carved a stopple out of red cedar. I don’t know how long it’ll last, since cedar is a little soft and it already seems to have a small crack in it, but I figure I’ll use it till it starts giving me trouble.

It holds about 2 liters/half a gallon, which was more than I was expecting!  The “wings” on either side of the spout that the leather strap runs through are a little flimsy, so when I make another one down the line (because I know myself well enough to know it’s bound to happen), I’ll sandwich another piece of leather between them to beef that part of the build up a bit.  2022 edit: after completing this project, I had the opportunity to view a late 17th century costrel, and it was both made from a heavier weight leather and had an additional piece of leather supporting the “wings”. Otherwise, I’m quite happy with how it turned out!