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Crossbowman with Falcon
Item 120-002
120mm. Resin.
Sculpted by: Kamil Feliks Sztarbala



Historical Notes

In 911, a group of Scandinavian raiders under the leadership of Rollo sailed up the Seine and forced the French king to cede French territory. The price the king asked was that Rollo become a subject of the king and swear loyalty. This he did, and the Norsemen settled a very small area in the north of France. Rollo, however, considered himself to be an independent ruler and aggressively set about increasing the territory under his control. This constant expansion of territory would become the hallmark of the Norman experience in history
Normandy was in name a duchy of France, but the Norman dukes ruled the area as if it were an independent kingdom with little interference from the French king. By the eleventh century, the duchy of Normandy had become one of the most powerful regions in western Europe. There were, however, even more promising times ahead—in 1066, the Norman duke, William the Bastard, conquered the English forces of Harold Godwinson and became king of England. Norman culture and political structure would cross the channel and dramatically change English culture and history.
The Scandinavians who settled Normandy very quickly adopted the religion, customs, and language of the surrounding French populations. Rollo converted to Catholicism, but the adoption of French culture and language did not immediately alter the social structure of the Norman lords. From 911 until 980, the history of the Normans is one of constant blood-feuds and territorial battles, a history similar to that played out in early Scandinavia, the Danelaw in England, and Iceland.
Around 980, however, the Normans began to develop a unique set of institutions that would catapult them into the front-rank of European power and cultural influence. The most significant event in early Norman history was the placing of Hugh Capet on the throne of France—the Capetians only gained the throne through the help of the Normans and in gratitude, they allowed the Normans to operate independently
Once free from monarchical intrusion, the Norman dukes began to solidify an administrative system over their territories. This system became the model for subsequent medieval government: the feudal system. The Normans faced sporadic resistance from nobility within their domains. To counter this nobility, the Norman lords made clergy, who were largely drawn from the nobility, as their vassals since the monastic and church lands were on lands owned by the duke. All the knights resident on church and monastic lands the dukes forced into military loyalty. They used this core of vassals and knights to overcome the nobility which were forced to enter into feudal obligations to the duke.
The word, "feudal," comes from the word, "feud." A feudal obligation, then, was essentially built off of clan or tribal protection. For the early tribal Scandinavians, the only way to enforce law was through clan protetction and blood-feuds. Should a crime be committed against a member of the clan, it was the job of the entire clan to either seek retribution or enforce a penalty. It was on this ground that the dukes of Noramndy built their feudal system. Under this system, lay nobility were allowed to control a certain amount of territory. They were required, however, to enter into oaths to the duke; these oaths required their military service should the duke require it.



Contents
The kit is comprised of a total 11 parts beautifully sculpted and cast in quality resin.

Review
Our friend and master sculptor Kamil has created another beautiful sculpture, master piece for sure.
The anatomy on this figure is superb, he has truly captured in this creation the noble and fierce Norman warrior.
The face is extremely well sculpted with lots of character ,animation and detail.
The sculpting of the falcon with extremely detailed feathers is outstanding, and can stand on its own.
This figure is cast in high quality resin.
The kit is practically flash free and the assembly is straight forward, no filling is required.
This is an excellent figure, I highly recommend it, it will bring you many hours of enjoyment.



References
The Normans
by Marjorie Chibnall - History - 2000
The Normans in Europe
by Elisabeth M Van Houts - History - 2000 - 352 pages

The Normans in European History
by Charles Homer Haskins - 1915 - 258 pages
The Norman Conquest of Southern Italy and Sicily
by Gordon S Brown - History - 2003 - 222 pages





















More pictures in response.


Cheers
Roc.

Hello:
Can you tell me when does this kit went for sale.
Thank you.

That looks interesting - may well go on my wish-list.

Hey, is not necessary you to say me the date, I've found it was registred in 2006.
this work in 54 mm is of Andrea Miniatures in 1999

My Webpage

Please consider Andrea's figure is 54 mm tall and my one is 120. Andrea has no exlusivness for medieval warriors anyway, doas he ?


And I think it's a nice compliment for a sculptor and his work to be an inspiration for others

I agree with you, nobody has the exclusive of history, I only mentioned the dates because your figure reminds me the Andrea's one. If you say that it inspired you, you must not have problem with this.
Best regards:
Angel.

I have both the Andrea and Pabelo's version, must say that Pabelo's Norman Crossbowman has much more detail and it is a better value for the money.

Cheers
Roc.

That is a sweet looking figure Roc. The Andrea figure got me back into doing 54mm. I shall have to add this one to my wish book.

Great review Roc. I like the background better instead of using the box behind the casting. Lets you focus right on the parts you have photographed.

Thanks for posting Roc.

Hey Guy ,thanks, I'm glad you like the review.

Cheers
Roc.

Well in all fairness it is a much larger figure. ~Gary

I believe Angel's comment is in regards to the figure being a larger "copy" of a figure already in production, not that Andrea has exclusive rights to Medieval subjects.~Gary

great review, although the neck does look a little long to my eyes.

This is as Gary says an upscaling of an existing figure, and not the first by this company. I'm sure there's no legal issues here? However, didn't Troani get legal over poses from his paintings? I may be wrong of course.

I'd prefer to see 100% originals for what is mainly an inspired range of miniatures.

Rob, Yes he did. I'm not sure if copying a sculpture would be dealt with the same way. I did a large scale copy of a Horan 1830's Marine but that was after the manufacturer contacted him to see if he had any problems with it. Though It was a fun approach to doing a figure, it is more rewarding (for me anyway) to do my own. This is not meant to be a negative view or opinion of Kamil's work, I'm just more comfortable doing my own thing as much as possible for a number of reasons.~Gary

Well, it's nice to credit the origin of a figure when it is a copy. I remember the marine and you beginning by explaining that Bill had been asked.

Personally I'm not sure it's ethical (whether legal or not) to take the pose and design from someone else's work and make money from it yourself (isn't that the crux of Trioani's situation?), especially without crediting them. It just doesn't seem right to me. Andrea may not have exclusive rights to medieval warriors, but it's their design (but it is from a movie!). Although I'm not taking anything away from Kamil's sculpture, it's good stuffle.

What makes this really funny, is that the original that is more expensive and has less detail, was sculpted, according to the 2001 Andrea catalogue, by Angel Terol (iztemaan)!!!!!

Well, it was only right to give credit from the get go, if not to avoid any questions or assumptions regarding my motivation for doing it.


I realised that Angel had sculpted the smaller version of the figure.


I still can understand Kamil's inspiration to do the figure in a larger scale.~Gary

It's probably the best way to learn; I often keep a hornet head nearby when I'm sculpting a head (a rare event indeed)

Why this urge to copy when the aim of every true artist is to create something ORIGINAL?

Life can be so simple sometimes.

Quang