Bone skate

3D Model

• Origin: The Netherlands
• Date: Middle Ages
• Material: Animal bone
• Dimensions: length 28 cm, width 7 cm, height 4 cm
• Capturing: Nikon EOS 250D
• Processing: Agisoft Metashape Professional Software
• Created by: Pan, Jinbo and Stoyanova, Daria

Bone skates, or glisses, are the earliest form of ice skates. People started to ice skate using them as early as 3000 years ago and Finland is probably the origin place of this sport. In contrast to modern times, ice skating was mainly used as means of transport rather than a leisure time activity.

The above 3D model is of one of the two bone skates that are in possession of Centre Céramique Maastricht. They date back to the Middle Ages and are made out of cattle or horse bones. What made bones preferable was both their accessibility and the fact that their oily fat creates a natural wax that acts as a lubricant and helps to reduce the friction between the ice and the skate, thus ensuring a smooth gliding experience.

Theme: Daily life and death