#stuart johnson

Stuart Johnson, Miss Alaska 1958, visits Yankee Stadium

I went to the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, MA yesterday with the lovely @headinfantasy and unexpectedly found the perfect reference for my Ringwraith gloves at the World of WearableArt exhibit! It’s a completely armored piece dedicated to Persephone, Queen of the Dead made in 2002 by Stuart Johnson, a Lord of the Rings blacksmith… but hey… first of all the pauldrons looked familiar… then the sword… then the gloves…. which turns out that except for the fingers and the oft-ignored wrist spike are exactly the same as the Nazgul gloves from the Lord of the Rings films. (basic version - the witch-king’s gloves are slightly fancier even when he doesn’t have the helmet and pauldrons.) You can see the arm piece clearer here than in any screenshot of the films as well. I don’t know if this counts as copying because maybe he invented the original? LOL.

So for anyone else looking to take up one of the Nine Rings I hope you can find these useful. Too bad I already made my gloves.