Founders of Small Tin Works
by Jef Palframan and Giulia Chiostrini
Transcription [from tc_p080v, 21 April 2015]
<title id=”p080v_a1″>Fondeurs de menus ouvrages destain</title>
<ab id=”p080v_b1″>Ilz gectent communem{ent} de souldure mesmem{ent} les choses qui<lb/>
ne doibvent point venir vuides Car celles la requierent<lb/>
lestaim fin & doulx Qui touteffois ne despouilleroit pas<lb/>
& ne viendroit pas vuide sil estoit mesle ou avoyct de<lb/>
lestain de glace mesle parmy co{mm}e ilz en mectent un peu en lestain<lb/>
doulx Ilz gravent leurs ouvrages sur des pierres dequoy<lb/>
se font les coulx ou filieres des barbiers qui se trouve<lb/>
par grandes escailles vers les montaignes & retire a<lb/>
lardoise Il y en ha de trois couleurs de rougeastre<lb/>
qui nest pas si parfaicte que les aultres pourceque elle ne<lb/>
dure pas tant au foeu & co{mme} Lune dard de couleur<lb/>
dardoise obscure laultre blancheastre Quand ilz ont<lb/>
quelque relief ilz limpriment premierement sur du carton<lb/>
espes dun doigt pour leur servir de patron Puys avecq un petit compas & petits ferrem{ens}<lb/>
dont ilz sont assortis ilz gravent leurs figures ayant premierem{ent}<lb/>
aplani leurs pierres & usees lune contre laultre ilz font<lb/>
leurs p moules de trois ou quatres pieces pour faire<lb/>
un rond ou quarre qui se joinct parfaitem{ent} a cause que<lb/>
les pierres se rendent fort esgalles Plustost que gecter
ilz frottent de suif le moule qui la bien tost bu a cause<lb/>
quil est chault Puys ayant de la subtile pouldre<lb/>
de chaulx vive dans un linge ilz poncent le moule en<lb/>
frappant du linge dessus puys souflent un peu dessus<lb/>
cela empesche de soufler Le principal est de faire<lb/>
des souspirails Si louvraige est grandet ilz les font<lb/>
en ceste sorte co{mm}e tu voys represente Ilz persent en quelque<lb/>
endroit de la medaille qui est le moings aparent Et puys avecq<lb/>
un foret ilz percent le moule au coste de la medaille<lb/>
Et silz veulent que leur ouvraige demeure perce en<lb/>
quelque endroit ilz enchassent un peu de liege en cet<lb/>
endroit dans le moule Et le plomb ou estaing ne si<lb/>
attaque point</ab>
<note id=”p080v_c1a”>Fais que les chevilles de ton<lb/>
chassis entrent alaise affin quen<lb/>
[ouvrant] le chassis souvre aisem{ent}<lb/>
sans rien esbranler Que tes chassis destain<lb/>
se joignent bien & que la table soit<lb/>
bien unye</note>
<note id=”p080v_c1b”>Essaye de graver<lb/>
avecq vinaigre<lb/>
distille</note>
<note id=”p080v_c1c”>Essaye les coquilles<lb/>
dhuistres calcinees<lb/>
on dict quelles sont<lb/>
excellentes pour<lb/>
mouler</note>
Translation [from tl_p080v, 21 April 2015] and suggested changes in red:
<title id=”p080v_a1″>Founders of small tin work</title>
<ab id=”p080v_b1″>They usually cast from soft solder1 the things that should not become hollow, because [hollow works] require fine and soft tin. However, these things would not otherwise lose their coat or become hollow if they are mixed or include glass tin in them, just like they mix a little [glass tin] in the soft tin. They carve their work on stones of which the sharpening stones or barber’s files are made. These are found in great flakes near the mountains, and resemble slate. You can find these [rocks] in three colors: one reddish, that is not as perfect as the others because it does not sustain heat; [another] one is the color of dark slate, and the other is whitish. When they work a relief, first they print it on paper maché, which is one finger thick, to serve as a pattern. After planning the stones and rubbing them together, they use a compass or little iron tools to carve their figures. They make their molds with three or four stones, to make a circle or a square with the stones which join perfectly because the stones are of equal size. Before casting, they rub the molds over with tallow, and it [the mold] absorbs it quickly because it is hot. Then, having [put] fine powder of quicklime into a cloth, they rub the mold using pounce in beating the linen on top, then blow it a little on top; this prevents bubbles [from forming]. The main thing is that you make some vents. If the work is big, they do as it is shown [on the picture]. They make a hole in the medal, somewhere where it is least visible, and with a bit they pierce the mold on the side of the medal. And if they want their work to last, they pierce [it] somewhere and fit in a piece of cork. Lead or tin will not damage it. </ab>
<note id=”p080v_c1a”>Make sure the pegs of your frame fit in easily so it will open with ease without moving anything else. Your tin box molds should fit well, and the table should be very flat. </note>
<note id=”p080v_c1b”>Try to carve with distilled vinegar.</note>
<note id=”p080v_c1c”>Try calcined oyster shells; they are said to be excellent for molding.</note>
Annotation: Concerning the Use of Stone Molds, fol. 80v
by Giulia Chiostrini & Jef Palframan
[All figure file names have been abbreviated for readability, e.g. “AnnotationSpring2015_ChiostriniPalframan_80v_FoundersofSmallTinWork_Fig1_CalcinatedOysterShells.jpg” is here shortened to “Fig1_CalcinatedOysterShells1.jpg”]
The recipe Founders of Small Tin Works on fol. 80v describes in detail the process for casting metal in stone molds. The recipe is unique in that it appears to diverge from other casting recipes in the manuscript. Stone mold casting, like cuttlefish bone casting, does not receive as much attention from the author-practitioner of BnF Ms. Fr. 640 as other forms of casting (e.g., sand casting and plaster casting). Stone mold casting is mentioned once,2 and techniques related to cuttlefish bone casting of metal objects are mentioned only three times.3 In contrast, the number of sand (and plaster) casting recipes in the manuscript is well over fifty. Despite being the only stone molding recipe in the manuscript, the recipe is still richly detailed. It describes a molding process, which was used to mass produce tin and lead pilgrim badges in large numbers, a procedure for which little or no comparable contemporary written sources exist. This annotation describes our attempts to reconstruct and document the stone molding technique as described in the manuscript and speculates on questions about how and why the author-practitioner engaged with the practice.
Casting metal in stone was first performed in antiquity and it developed in tandem with other casting techniques, such as sand casting or lost-wax casting.4 Prior to and during the middle ages, stone molding was carried out in many regions of Europe. During the Bronze Age, Scandinavian peoples used soapstone molds to cast metal objects with many different types of metals.5 From the Medieval era and into the early modern period stone casting was used in the production of pilgrim badges. Pilgrim badges were typically cast in lead or a low-quality pewter,6 and poured into a carved stone mold. The stone molding recipe in BnF Ms. Fr. 640 appears to have been collected from artisans engaged in this practice, for the author-practitioner writes, “Those who cast these small items, sold in front of the churches, melt half a pound of lead on a pound of tin, and cast in a stone frame.”7
Collecting an account of the process from practitioners is in keeping with the lack of recipes for stone molding recorded in other technical writings, as far as we have been able to identify. Cennino Cennini, writing at the end of the fourteenth century, does give instructions on how to mold tin foil with stone molds in Il Libro Dell’ Arte, but these bear little resemblance to the technique described in Ms. Fr. 640.8 In his sixteenth-century metal and metallurgy treatise Pirotechnia, Vannoccio Biringuccio writes, “Indeed, [tin] is an easily melted metal, in common use for the utensils which are made for human needs, it is an art known not only to skilled men but almost to children, wherefore I could proceed without telling of it.”9 This view underscores the unwritten nature of stone molding, a technique to be learned by engaging with its practitioners, who were seemingly ubiquitous, judging from the many pilgrim badges still extant.
Indeed, casting metal objects in stone molds was a relatively simple process; first, practitioners sought out stones of the best consistency to make their carving, identifiable by their consistency, containing no large particles of differing hardness, or “close-grained.”10 Once two stones of sufficient consistency were found, they were ground together, or on a flat surface, until the pieces fit tightly together (a stone used for an open-face mold did not require grinding). Using a pointed tool made from a hard metal such as iron, a design was carved into the stone material. Once the design was complete, a venting and gate system was carved. A separating agent was applied and the stones joined together. Molten metal, typically a mixture of tin and lead, was then poured into the mold and, once cooled, the molded object was removed.
The first step in reconstructing this process was selecting an appropriate stone. The author-practitioner writes:
[Tin Founders] carve their work on stones of which the sharpening stones or barber’s files are made. These are found in great flakes near the mountains, and resemble slate. You can find these [rocks] in three colors: one reddish, that is not as perfect as the others because it does not sustain heat; [another] one is the color of dark slate, and the other is whitish.11
Determining exactly the type of stone to which he is referring was extremely difficult. Geological maps of the Pyrenees mountain ranges just south of Toulouse show the presence of limestone, sandstone, granite, and other metamorphic rock formations from various geological periods.12 Surviving stone molds from Western Europe from the fourteenth to the sixteenth century were equally varied and are made of a variety of materials like soapstone, limestone, mudstone, and more.13
Since we have not yet determined the exact type of stone specified by the author-practitioner, we decided to approach our selection of stone based upon material properties rather than stone types, since the author-practitioner approaches the stones in this way. He specifies that the stones used by tin Founders are those “which the sharpening stones or barber’s files are made… [and] resemble slate.”14 The use of these materials in the sharpening of blades used in shaving suggests that these stones were of a highly uniform nature. The slate samples we obtained displayed a fine texture throughout, although our samples proved impossible to use. Other examples of medieval stone molds also display a “close-grained… [and] fine-grained…” texture.15 Based upon these observations of grain, we decided to use two types of common stone with the finest texture we could find, namely, limestone and soapstone, although limestone is much more granular than soapstone.16 [Fig01_LimestonePreCarving.jpg] [Fig02_SoapstoneMoldCarving.jpg]
At first, we spent much time trying to get the stones flat enough so that they fit together seamlessly for a two-piece mold.17 Even after several grinding sessions, in which we rubbed the stones against each other and on a flat surface, the stones were still not perfectly flush and the grinding continued during and after the carving of the design. [Fig03_CreatingTheSeal.jpg]
As inexpert stone carvers, we soon discovered that stone is hard, especially when attempting to achieve precise detail.18 At first, our progress was slow, especially with the limestone. The relatively simple design we chose for the limestone took over 3 hours to complete using various files, chisels and brushes. [Fig04_MarkingDesign.jpg] [Fig05_SoapstoneMoldCompletedCarving.jpg] This lengthy production time can partially be attributed to our novice skill level, but it was also due to the hardness of the stone. Attaining any depth into the stone required patience and force. As the author-practitioner indicated, particular instruments were used to do this work, writing, “they use a compass or little iron tools to carve their figures.” Sixteenth century compasses and calipers were precision instruments,19 and while museum collections contain several examples of mold designs displaying a high degree of artisanal skill, [Fig06_Example of Detailed Mold] it would appear that this technique was mostly used to produce large numbers of relatively simple objects, indicating that the durability of the stone was of prime importance.
We also attempted to use distilled vinegar to carve, as indicated by the author-practitioner in a marginal note. The vinegar made the limestone easier to carve, but there was not much difference felt when vinegar was used with soapstone. Due to the chemical reaction between limestone and vinegar, it may be that the resulting dissolution of the limestone accounted for the greater ease of carving, which may also suggest that the stone described in the recipe was limestone or a stone chemically similar to limestone.20 [Fig07_CarvingwithDistilledVinegar.jpg]
The author-practitioner comments on the interaction of vinegar with other substances throughout the manuscript: for example, in Imitation coral on fol. 3r, vinegar is used make colophony “less brittle”; in Grenades on fol. 24r, vinegar is used to “soften the [gun]powder” in order to make it burn slower; in Argel-made work on fol. 52r vinegar is used to neutralize dangerous vapors; and in Making black gum on fol. 76v, vinegar is used to “dilute” black gum. Further experimentation on vinegar is required in order to say anything definitive on the material, however, from the text it appears that the author-practitioner regards vinegar as an agent that tempers or combines easily and usefully with other substances.21
Once we finished carving our designs in the stones with vinegar, we then drilled plugholes into the limestone with a drill and filled these holes with tin/lead alloy. The metal forms natural posts that enable repeated use of the molds and ensures proper alignment. [Fig08_DrillingPlugholes.jpg] [Fig09_LimestoneMoldClosedWithPegs.jpg] [Fig10_LimestoneMoldOpenWithPegs.jpg] [Fig11_SoapstoneMoldClosedWithPegs.jpg] [Fig12_SoapstoneMoldOpenWithPegs.jpg] The author-practitioner also advises to, “Make sure the pegs of your frame fit in easily so it will open with ease without moving anything else.”22 Thus, we ensured that the posts could easily release from their recesses. Most extant molds in the collections have lost their posts and only the holes remain as evidence of a two-piece mold backing.23
We also added an extraction hole to the soapstone mold as described in the manuscript, “They make a hole in the medal, somewhere where it is least visible, and with a bit they pierce the mold on the side of the medal. And if they want their work to last, they pierce [it] somewhere and fit in a piece of cork. Lead or tin will not damage it.”24 [Fig13_HoletoMakeMoldLast.jpg] [Fig14_CorkPlug.jpg] Generally, the extraction hole worked well, the cork was only slightly singed, and it greatly aided the release of the metal. Using an extraction hole seems a very specific detail, which shows once more that the author-practitioner likely practiced stone molding himself, and appreciated the tricks of the stone molder’s trade.
Once the posts had cooled, we applied a separating agent. Following the recipe, the molds were heated slightly (using a blowtorch) and the tallow was applied with a brush. [Fig15_ApplyingTallow.jpg] [Fig16_SoapstoneMoldApplyingTallow.jpg] [Fig17_SoapstoneMoldwithTallow.jpg] The heat from the mold melted the tallow and the mold appeared to “absorb it quickly because it [was] hot.”25
The next step was to select our separators. The author-practitioner specifies two different materials to be used as powdered separators in the recipe: quicklime and calcined oyster shells. The quicklime is mentioned in the main body of the recipe and appears to be from the same source as the rest of the recipe. The calcined oyster shells are mentioned in a marginal note and were likely added to the margin after the main recipe was written. Both of the materials, quicklime and calcined oyster shells, appear to be recommendations collected from other sources, rather than originating from his own experience. The quicklime appears to be from the main source of the recipe, possibly the tin Founders or pewterers, and the calcined oyster shells appear to be from a different source which is more generalized and indiscriminate, as he wrote, they “are said to be.”26 Based on our past experience with casting in sand we decided to complete the experiment by trying different separators (charcoal, quicklime, and calcined oyster shells) on our two types molds (limestone and soapstone).27
The separators were applied and the molds were sealed. [Fig18_SealingtheMold.jpg] [Fig19_CalcinedOysterShellSeparator.jpg] For all pouring, we used an alloy composed of 50% tin and 50% lead.28 Once the metals had cooled the completed badges were removed, the sprues were removed, and after this, work was performed on some of the badges using a soldering iron. [Fig20_CastingPreAfterwork.jpg] [Fig21_BadgewithAfterwork.jpg]
In order to evaluate the differences between the quality of the casts produced using different separators, we first had to understand exactly what a good cast meant for the author-practitioner. He is mostly vague on what constitutes good quality, and typically hides his assessments behind adjectives like “excellent”29 or “very good.”30 However, in one instance he writes, “I believe that the secret of casting well lies in finding a sand that conforms well to the metal, this one for lead, the other for another, because each has its own particular one, so that it be molded easily and keenly.”31 We interpreted molding “easily and keenly” (in French “a laise & curieusement”)32 to mean that the metal releases easily from the molding material, possibly retaining the mold for repeated use, and that the precise details from the mold are transferred to the metal with minimal loss.
Of the three separators, the charcoal was the least effective in meeting this standard. [Fig22_AllResults.jpg] [Fig23_LimestoneComparison.jpg] [Fig24_SoapstoneResultComparison.jpg] The charcoal left a grainy texture all over the badge, more so than the other separators. Pieces of charcoal became embedded in the metal itself and were still present even after repeated cleanings, giving the metal a dark colored tone.33 The charcoal produced the largest failure of all the pourings, with over half of one mold failing to fill at all.34 [Fig25_VentingFailure.jpg] The quicklime and calcined oyster shells both performed well, and overall, were better than the charcoal. These separators made the metal appear brighter and smoother than the charcoal separator. In all cases–charcoal, quicklime, and calcined oyster shells–the metal released easily from the molds and the molds were left undamaged, ready to be used again.
This reconstruction of the stone molding technique found in BnF Ms. Fr. 640 is by no means comprehensive. There are many remaining questions, such as the impact of different stones or of metal alloy types on the process. In addition, more research needs to be carried out on the craft and status of pewterers. Nonetheless, this recipe provides an unusually detailed and descriptive account of stone molding, and its singular appearance in Ms. Fr. 640 may reveal the relative lack of interest the author-practitioner had in a process of molding that did not involve changes of state in materials brought about by mixtures of different sands and binders, nor in one that resulted in simple and static forms rather than the life-like nature casts on which, in contrast, he worked so intensively.
Bibliography
Biringuccio, Vannoccio. The Pirotechnia of Vannoccio Biringuccio: The Classic Sixteenth-Century Treatise on Metals and Metallurgy. New York: Dover Publications, 1990.
Cennino Cennini, The Craftsman’s Handbook. New York: Dover Publications, 2012.
Constantinus de Pisa and Barbara Obrist. The Book of the Secrets of Alchemy. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1990.
Cotgrave, Randle. A Dictionarie of the French and English Tongues. London: Adam Islip, 1611.
Greer, Sarah Elizabeth, A Comparison of the Ancient Metal Casting Materials and Processes to Modern Metal Casting Materials and Processes (MA Thesis, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 2009)
Hansen, Gitte. Everyday products in the Middle Ages: Crafts, Consumption and the Individual in Northern Europe c. AD 800 – 1600. Oxford: Oxbow Books, 2015.
Kavey, Allison. Books of Secrets Natural Philosophy in England, 1550-1600. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2007.
Leong, Elaine Yuen Tien, and Alisha Michelle Rankin. Secrets and Knowledge in Medicine and Science, 1500-1800. Farnham, UK: Ashgate, 2011.
Pomerol, Charles, and Jacques Debelmas. Geology of France: With Twelve Itineraries and a Geological Map at 1:2,500,000. Paris: Masson, 1980.
Price, T. Douglas. Ancient Scandinavia: An Archaeological History from the First Humans to the Vikings. 2015.
Spencer, Brian. Pilgrim Souvenirs and Secular Badges. London: Stationery Office, 1998.
Spencer, Brian, “Medieval pilgrim badges” in Rotterdam Papers / Uitgegeven Onder Redactie Van J. G. N. Renaud, 1968
Simpson, Bruce Liston. History of the Metalcasting Industry. Des Plaines, Illinois: American Foundrymen’s Society, 1969.
Theophilus, John G. Hawthorne, and Cyril Stanley Smith. On Divers Arts: The Foremost Medieval Treatise on Painting, Glassmaking, and Metalwork. New York: Dover Publications, 1979. Kindle Edition.
Trench, Lucy. Materials & Techniques in the Decorative Arts: an Illustrated Dictionary. London: John Murray, 2000.
1 Souldure should be translated as a “soft solder” and be understood to be a metallic alloy (usually made of tin and lead) that can be used for casting or joining.
According to the OED:
1. A fusible metallic alloy used for uniting metal surfaces or parts.
Various kinds are distinguished by specific names, as hard, soft (see sense 4), white, copper, gold, silver, pewterer’s, plumber’s solder.
4. soft solder: a. A common kind of solder, usually made from tin and lead.
According to Le Grand Robert:
Alliage fusible (plomb, étain…) servant à souder les métaux.
According to http://www.littre.org/definition/soudure:
Composition ou mélange de divers métaux et minéraux, qui sert à unir ensemble des pièces de métal. En fondant l’étain à partie égale avec le plomb, l’alliage est ce que les plombiers appellent de la soudure; et ils l’emploient en effet pour souder leurs ouvrages en plomb. Soudure grasse, celle dans laquelle domine l’étain ; on dit par opposition soudure maigre. Soudure au tiers, mélange de deux parties de plomb avec une partie d’étain. Soudure à huit, soudure des orfévres, composée d’une partie de cuivre sur sept d’argent.
2 In Steel Mirrors on fol. 5r a ‘white stone mold’ is mentioned in the process of mirror making and in Lead Tin on fol. 48v ‘stone molds’ are mentioned in conjunction with pewterers; however, there is no exploration of the technique in either of these recipes.
3 See BnF Ms. Fr. 640, Molding with Cuttlefish Bone on fol. 91r, Cuttlefish Bone on fol. 145r. and The Mode in Which Goldsmiths Mold Hollow Molds on fol. 157r.
4 Some scholars believes that the oldest-known cast object, Stand Supported by the Figure of a Frog, is believed to have originated from the ancient Mesopotamian city Kish around 3200 BCE, see Bruce Liston Simpson, History of the Metalcasting Industry (Des Plaines, Ill.: American Foundrymen’s Society, 1969), and Sarah Elizabeth Greer, A comparison of the ancient metal casting materials and processes to modern metal casting materials and processes (MA Thesis, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 2009). Based on photos of this object, which resides at the Field Museum in Chicago, the actual method of forming this object is unclear. It is most likely sand cast or lost-wax cast. A more detailed examination is needed. Nonetheless, it is a complex metal form, evidencing a high degree of skill. See Unknown, “Stand Supported by the Figure of a Frog.” Copper alloy and stone. Around 3200 BCE. Kish Collection. Field Museum, Chicago, United States. http://archive.fieldmuseum.org/kish/gallery_object.asp.
5 Douglas T. Price, Ancient Scandinavia: An Archaeological History from the First Humans to the Vikings (2015), 210, and Gitte Hansen, Everyday products in the Middle Ages: crafts, consumption and the individual in Northern Europe c. AD 800 – 1600 (Oxford [u.a.]: Oxbow Books. 2015), 55.
6 Brian Spencer, “Medieval pilgrim badges” (Rotterdam Papers / Uitgegeven Onder Redactie Van J. G. N. Renaud. 1968) 137.
7 BnF Ms. Fr. 640, Lead Casting on fol. 49r. “Ceulx qui gectent ces petits ouvrages qui se vendent devant les eglises y fondent une sur une lb destaim demy de plomb et gectent en pierre.” Since this comment appears earlier in the manuscript, at 49r, than the primary recipe, at 80v, it may also indicate that the author-practitioner returned at a later time to expand upon the technique. Although, in light of the seemingly random character of the rest of the manuscript, we should avoid reading a strict chronology into the order of the folios.
8 “You may also get a stone, carved with devices of any style you wish; and grease this stone with bacon fat or lard. Then get some tin foil; and, laying some fairly moist tow on the tin which lies over the mold, and beating it as hard as you can, with a willow mallet, you then take gesso grosso ground with size, and fill up this impression with the slice. You may embellish with these on a wall, on chests, on stone, on anything you please, afterward putting some mordant over the tin; and when it is a little tacky, gild it with fine gold. Then, when it is dry, fasten it to the wall with ship pitch.” See Cennino Cennini, The Craftsman’s Handbook (New York: Dover Publications: 2012), 1413-1418.
9 Vannoccio Biringuccio, The Pirotechnia of Vannoccio Biringuccio: The Classic Sixteenth-Century Treatise on Metals and Metallurgy (New York: Dover Publications, 1990), 374.
10 Brian Spencer, Pilgrim Souvenirs and Secular Badges (London: Stationery Office, 1998), 8.
11 BnF Ms. Fr. 640, Founders of Small Tin Works on fol. 80v. “Ilz gravent leurs ouvrages sur des pierres dequoy se font les coulx ou filieres des barbiers qui se trouve par grandes escailles vers les montaignes & retire a lardoise Il y en ha de trois couleurs de rougeastre qui nest pas si parfaicte que les aultres pourceque elle ne dure pas tant au foeu & co{mme} Lune dard de couleur dardoise obscure laultre blancheastre”
12 Charles Pomerol and Jacques Debelmas, Geology of France: With Twelve Itineraries and a Geological Map at 1:2,500,000 (Paris: Masson, 1980), 243-244.
13 See, “Stone mould.” Stone mould. 1380-1400. Sculpture Collection. Victoria & Albert Museum, London, England. http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O121632/stone-mould-stone-mould-unknown/; “Jewellery mould.” Carved mudstone mould. 1400-1500. Metalwork Collection. Victoria & Albert Museum, London, England. http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O126628/jewellery-mould-unknown/; and “badge-mould.” Engraved badge-mould. 15th Century (?). Britain, Europe and Prehistory. http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=79354&partId=1&object=24129&page=1 for examples. Also Brian Spencer, Pilgrim Souvenirs and Secular Badges (London: Stationery Office, 1998), 8.
14 BnF Ms. Fr. 640, Founders of Small Tin Works on fol. 80v. “dequoy se font les coulx ou filieres des barbiers qui se trouve par grandes escailles vers les montaignes & retire a lardoise”
15 Brian Spencer, Pilgrim Souvenirs and Secular Badges (London: Stationery Office, 1998), 8. It is a mystery as to why the author-practitioner mentions slate as a material and does not simply say to use slate. Slate is a viable material to be utilized in stone-molding. This may have been because slate was unavailable.
16 We originally intended to utilize slate since he specifically mentions that the stones he used resembled slate. However, due to the awkward shape of the slate samples we obtained, we abandoned the material.
17 Within the collections there are many examples of two-piece molds. Often the back pieces of the molds are missing or not put on display. Two-piece molds can be identified by the presence of plugholes designed to hold the posts, which align the back of the mold to the front. See Unknown, “Jewellery mould.” Carved mudstone mould. 1400-1500. Metalwork Collection. Victoria & Albert Museum, London, England. http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O126628/jewellery-mould-unknown/, for an example of a two piece mold with its backing.
18 The sandstone design was based on a fourteenth-sixteenth century pilgrim’s badge from France. See Unknown, “Pilgrim’s Badge.” Metalwork-Lead. 14th-16th Century. The Cloisters Collection. 1977.240.101. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, United States. http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/472002. The soapstone design was based upon another 14th-16th century badge from France. See Unknown, “Pilgrim’s Badge.” Metalwork-Lead. 14th-16th Century. The Cloisters Collection. 1977.240.50. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, United States. http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/472075.
19 See Lorenzo Batecin, “Gunner’s Caliper.” 16th Century. Venice, Italy. Instituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza, Firenze. Inventory no. 3176. http://www.mhs.ox.ac.uk/epact/catalogue.php?ENumber=83696; Unknown “Gunner’s Caliper.” circa 1600. Dutch. Museum Boerhaave, Leiden. Inventory no. 22973. http://www.mhs.ox.ac.uk/epact/catalogue.php?ENumber=38096; and Unknown “Compasses.” 16th Century. Italian. Instituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza, Firenze. Inventory no. 1357. http://www.mhs.ox.ac.uk/epact/catalogue.php?ENumber=55801. Cotgrave translates compas as “Compasse, a circle, around; also a paire of comapsses.” See Randle Cotgrave. A Dictionarie of the French and English Tongues (London: Adam Islip, 1611).
20 Limestone, composed calcium carbonate (CaCO3), reacts with vinegar, an acid, to produce calcium acetate, water, and carbon dioxide, dissolving the limestone. The reaction is CaCO3+ 2H+ > Ca+2 + H2O +CO2.
21 Use of vinegar is common in technical literature. In Constantinus de Pisa’s The Book of the Secrets of Alchemy, de Pisa instructs the reader on the tempering qualities of vinegar in several instances: “…take quicksilver and boil it in pan with vinegar and salt, which will purify it of its blackness,” “…the mercury should be washed by cooking it in vinegar in which sal ammoniac has been dissolved, boiling it for one day,” and “Kill the mercury with vinegar and white lead in a mortar,” see Constantinus de Pisa and Barbara Obrist. The Book of the Secrets of Alchemy (Leiden: E.J. Brill. 1990), 277, 281,and 292. Theophilus describes vinegar as a tempering agent, “When [the ashes and the blood of a red-haired man] have been compounded, they are tempered with sharp vinegar in a clean pot,” see Theophilus, John G. Hawthorne, and Cyril Stanley Smith. On Divers Arts (New York: Dover Publications: 2012), 1945. Kindle Edition.
22 BnF Ms. Fr. 640, Founders of Small Tin Works on fol. 80v. “Fais que les chevilles de ton<lb/>
chassis entrent alaise affin quen [ouvrant] le chassis souvre aisem{ent} sans rien esbranler Que tes chassis destain se joignent bien & que la table soit bien unye”
23 “Badge-mould.” Engraved badge-mould. 15th Century (?). Britain, Europe and Prehistory. http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=79354&partId=1&object=24129&page=1 Some molds have retained their posts.
24 BnF Ms. Fr. 640, Founders of Small Tin Works on fol. 80v. “Ilz persent en quelque endroit de la medaille qui est le moings aparent Et puys avecq un foret ilz percent le moule au coste de la medaille Et silz veulent que leur ouvraige demeure perce en quelque endroit ilz enchassent un peu de liege en cet endroit dans le moule Et le plomb ou estaing ne si attaque point.”
25 BnF Ms. Fr. 640, Founders of Small Tin Works on fol. 80v. “Plustost que gecter ilz frottent de suif le moule qui la bien tost bu a cause quil est chault.”
26 BnF Ms. Fr. 640, Founders of Small Tin Works on fol. 80v. “on dict quelles sont” For scholarship on the genre of ‘books of secrets’ and corresponding nature of collecting such information, see Elaine Yuen Tien Leong and Alisha Michelle Rankin, Secrets and Knowledge in Medicine and Science, 1500-1800 (Farnham, UK: Ashgate, 2011) and Allison Kavey, Books of Secrets Natural Philosophy in England, 1550-1600 (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2007).
27 The quicklime and calcined oyster shells used in our experiments should be understood to have been slaked by moisture in the air, meaning that they have been hydrated and have turned into calcium hydroxide. After the pouring of the metals, we tested the excess of quicklime and calcined oyster shells for a reactivity by adding water. No reaction was observed. Additionally, the charcoal was chosen for experimentation since it is used in other parts of the manuscript as a separator in other casting activities and it provides a standard for comparing results. In BnF Ms. Fr. 640, Sand – 81v, charcoal is mixed with clay and sand to form a casting sand; in Eau Magistra – 84v, charcoal “makes things come off well/ faict bien despouiller” “; and in Molding with Cuttlefish Bone – 91r, charcoal is used “because it helps [castings] come out easily/qui les faict bien despouiller & garde de rien enlever.”
28 The metal used in pilgrim badges in England was typically “an alloy comprising around 60-65% tin and 40-35% lead,” see Spencer, Pilgrim Souvenirs and Secular Badges, 10. The mixture half tin and half lead was used when the artisans want “their work [to be] whiter,” see Lead Casting on fol. 49r. “silz veulent leur ouvrage plus blanc ilz mectent la
moictie destain & moictie de plomb”
29 BnF Ms. Fr. 640, Try Calcineed Vitriol on fol. 69r. “excellent”
30 BnF Ms. Fr. 640, Making Gold Run for Casting on fol. 106r. “tres bien”
31 BnF Ms. Fr. 640, Sand Experiments on fol. 85v. “Je croy que de bien gecter gist de trouver un sable qui recoive bien le metal lun pour le plomb laultre pour un aultre car chascun en ha son particulier Quil soict moule a laise & curieusement.”
32 Cotgrave translates curieusement as “Curiously, precisely, nicely, quaintly, daintly,” See Cotgrave, A Dictionarie of the French and English Tongues.
33 This may also have been due to not grinding the charcoal finely enough.
34 Although, this may have been due to improper venting and/or the molds being too cold.