Non-traditional scrolls in the SCA are those found on *just about* anything other than paper (perg, bristol, vellum, etc). Included in these are embroidered scrolls, carved stones, stained glass… you get the idea.
On this occasion, the Pelicaning of the East’s dear Countessa Fortune St Keyne, I was privileged to be asked to be included in the making of a non-traditional scroll, in the sense that it was to be made into and modeled after a Venetian Fan (part of the Fan Museum, Greenwich England).
I do love a good challenge, and this project presented many. The first of them being communication with the host museum for images and citation information, and the second being attempting to create with paper and paint, that which should look like thread. EEPS!
To begin, we agreed on sizing. The original fan was… lets just say, TINY! Like itty bitty, teensy weensy, only 2 in x 2 in! We decided that was a bit small for all that we wanted to create, so instead, we sized up to 18 cm x 15 cm instead. This way, the scroll would be large enough to appreciate in court, and the handle being made would be sturdy enough to be held and used for display.
Rather than bristol, I decided that I wanted to yes pregame at a. Now, if you have read any of my prior posts, you know that perg can be a bit… tricky. It easily absorbs oils from skin and surfaces which makes it tough for ink and paint to stick. Therefore, paper preparations had to happen. Gloves – check! Sand paper – check! Cuddle bone dust – *stinky* check!
I alway begin my scrolls with a rough sketch in pencil, so that I have an idea of sizing and general shapes. Here is the rough sketch prior to any paint or gold.
After the sketch, I put own the gold. This part is suuuuper tricky because when perg is introduced to *any* moisture, it wrinkles. One trick is to try and get your miniatum to the consistency of Elmers Glue, and lay it is *super* thin layers… which is honestly the most time consuming and counter-intuitive process.
See? It wrinkled! That’s OK though. We will talk more about how to fix that later!
OK, now that the gold ha been laid, we move on to the paint! This part I tend to change up depending on the style of the scroll. In this instance, I wanted to paint things in quadrants, or sections, more for my own benefit. I had a very strict time frame to follow and if I could visualized how long things would take by condensing my work to a certain area I felt I would be more successful in finishing within my time allotment.
Once every thing was laid, it was sent off for assembly! The final product was absolutely stunning. I mentioned above that the wrinkles in the gold could be addressed, and to an extent that is true. The safest way to fix the winkles is through weighted, even pressure. I find the best way to do this is by placing the image between glassine or wax paper and this cardboard (making sure the image is *completely* dry). Then, place books or other *FLAT* weighted objects on top, keeping the weight distributed evenly. If something heavy is placed on top the has feet, or other lifts that create divots, those divots will be molded into the scroll, so beware!
Words by Marguerite inghean Lachlainn Calligraphy by Thyra Eiriksdottir Illumination by Collette d’Avignon Woodwork by Marieta Charay
Formal citation forthcoming – I am still in communication with the museum for more details 🙂
I wanted to make a special post detailing my adventure with gold, and providing some historical context to what we are doing here in the modern age.
A BRIEF HISTORY
Gold (Au – Aurum) is the 79th element on the periodic table. It is highly reflective, conducts heat, and is incredibly malleable1. Gold is one of the few elements found and mined in its natural state, the majority of it being found in South Africa(1).
Applied gold (or gilding) has been used on manuscripts, furniture, jewelry, and the like since ancient Egypt, where gold leaf was created by pounding sheets of gold thin as one micron, and later in the 14th century as thin as 0.2mm. The remnants of this gold leaf were, and still are, used to make shell gold by grinding and mixing them with a binding agent so that it can be painted on rather than laid in a sheet(2).
Gold is also found woven in threads so that tapestries, clothing, and furniture could be adorned with this rich and elegant metal. However, for the purpose of this blog post, I will be sharing information about the gold gilding, specifically gold leaf and shell gold.
EXAMPLES OF GOLD IN HISTORY
4,500 BC Bulgarian decorative beads(3) – possibly the oldest known human crafted gold object in the world.
4,500 BC Varna Necropolis treasure(4) – thought to have previously been the older human formed trove of gold, now the largest collection of gold treasures for that time period.
4,000 BC – 500 AD Egyptian jewelry, sarcophagus and tomb decorations(5) – intricate and delicate application of gilded gold, meant to provide Pharaohs with status and wealth in the afterlife.
500 BC – Lydia, Turkey, the first known gold coins(6), setting the standard for gold stamped coins around the world.
1200 BC – 300 BC Greek coins, and jewellery used to measure status and honor the gods(7) (8)
1 BC – Roman coins, being the first wide-spread gold currency due to the development of hydraulic mining(9) (10)
1817 AD – Great Britain giving gold a set value based on weight(11)
1848 AD – Gold Rush in the Western United States and Canada(12)
There were also gold imitators. Specifically mosaic gold (aka stannic sulfide aka Tin(IV) sulfide aka Tin disulfide) was easily created by chemists or those familiar in chemistry. Read HERE for how to make your own mosaic gold (I haven’t made my own yet, but likely will in the near future).
How gold and gold-mimic lay with different sizing
SIZING AND GOLD
Whether gold is painted on or applied in the form of leaf, there must be something that attaches it to a substrate, something that glues it down. These glues are called size, or sizing. Historically, there were a number of things used, like gum arabic, gesso, glare, and garlic juice among the most popular options. In modern day there are such materials as miniatum and miniatum ink.
Gum arabic – dried resin collected from the sap of two species of acacia trees. When ground and mixed with water it becomes a sticky binding agent.
Gesso – a thick mixture of plaster, chalk, or gypsum bound together with animal glue.
Glare – created from peaked egg whites, and used in both gold leaf application, but largely in the binding of shell gold. Read HERE for how to make your own glare.
Garlic juice – after garlic is finely minced, it is then distressed with mortar and pestle, gathered in a cheese cloth and the juice is extracted, producing a sticky juice.
Of course, there are a number of other methods out there that were used, since this was not a necessarily standardized practice. For instance, one resource says, “Begin with slaked plaster of Paris, and grind in a little white lead (less than a third of the amount of the plaster, Cennino says)(13)
Another resource, The Göttingen model book, depicts the addition of color to sizing in the form of armenian bole, stating, “then fetch bolum armenum at the apothecary’s, and grind so much into it that the chalk will turn a red flesh colour therefrom…and then take sugar-candy as much as half a hazelnut, that is to say half as much as of the bolus; and then take cinnabar as much as half a pea. Rub all this well together with the egg white, that it becomes like lard, and then put it into a horn, which should be clean, and stir it with a small piece of wood and temper it to the thickness of cinnabar, so that it flows easily from the pen; and let it then macerate and add again and again egg white, until it is well macerated, and stir it well; and let it stand three or four days, and the longer it stands, the better it is and will be”(14)
Vladimir Baranov, et al add to this saying, “The substance can be dried into little pink pellets and stored like this. When it is needed, mix it up with a little clear water and egg glair, presumably on a slab of stone, crunching the mixture over and over with a palette knife until it is really smooth and runny, without bubbles”.(15)
HOW TO MAKE SHELL GOLD
MATERIALS:
– Real gold leaf (23k or 24k) – (usually one would use leftover scraps from laying sheets of gold leaf)
– salt
– honey
– mortar & pestle
– clear glass container (small, like a tiny mason jar)
– eye dropper or pipette
– distilled water
– optional: gum arabic
PROCESS:
Locate all of your gold scraps and combine them in a small container. I use a small paint cup with a lid (see image) to store the scraps.
Next, combine the gold scraps, salt, honey and water to the mixture. The estimated amounts that I use are thus:
– 1 tbsp gold – 1 tbsp honey – 1/2 tsp salt (adding more slowly if needed) – 1 pipette full of water (adding only 1-2 drops at a time if needed)
I recommend not using the same mortar and pestle that you may use for food.
Salt – your abrasive grinding agent
Honey – glue and binder
Water – thinning agent
Grinding this gold mixture will produce something the texture of gloopy paint, and that’s good! Continue grinding until smooth, or until no large pieces of gold are seen.
When you are happy with the consistency of your gold mixture, place the mixture into your storage container (I use a tiny mason jar used for canning) and top with your distilled water. Give the jar a good shake and allow the gold to settle to the bottom. When most of the gold has settled, use your pipette and remove most of the water in the jar, then add more water, shake, and repeat!
I typically repeat this process until the water is no longer sticky or salty. I test this by dipping my finger in the water and rubbing my fingers together. If the water feels sticky or smells very sweet, OR if it feels gritty or leaves a salty residue I continue my rinsing cycle. I DO NOT TASTE MY WATER. Though this is likely a period practice, I do not personally practice this to prevent myself from accidentally tasting something I should not… which could easily happen with pigments. However, in this case, the gold leaf will not harm you and it is OK to taste.
When you are satisfied with the cleanliness of your water, use a pipette to remove most of your water and pour the gold mixture into a storage container (like the little paint containers with lids seen above… historically it would be stored in a shell!)
When storing, the gold mixture will dry out, so to rehydrate, mix it with a few drops of water, OR you can store it as a ready-to-use paste by just adding some gum arabic.
The benefit of using true shell gold is that if you use a separate rinse jar, all of the gold that washes off your brush can be used again to create more shell gold!
Part three of our golden adventure, now that we know a little of the history of gilded gold, and how to make shell gold, we can examine the method of laying gold leaf!
HOW TO LAY GOLD LEAF
MATERIALS
-Gold leaf sheets (23k or 24k)
-Size (either miniatum or miniatum ink are my preferred size, but other options are acceptable)
-Size-specific paintbrush
-Clean, flat paintbrush for the gold leaf
-Pounce bag (made of silk)
-Burnisher OR small smooth round stone/pebble
-Lestoil for cleaning
-Water
-Pipette
-Stirring spoon or popsicle stick
-Warm colored gouache (red, maroon, brown, etc.)
-Glassine
PROCESS
– Trace out the area that you would like to have laid gold. I do not lay gold without tracing first, so that I have specific parameters to lay my size within. I will usually lay the size slightly over the pencil marks to hide them.
***For MINIATUM INK: first, thin your miniatum ink using your water and pipette. Though this product comes already thinned, thinning it further will allow for more layers and a smoother texture once the gold is laid. I lay 2 layers of ink. Miniatum ink will give a FLAT GILDING.
After thinning the ink, add a pea-sized amount of warm-toned gauche to your ink and stir using your stirring spoon or popsicle stick. When miniatum (ink) dries, it dries clear, and without the gouache it will be difficult to find where to lay the gold. The warm tone to the gouache also helps to enhance the warm tone of the goldleaf.
***For MINIATUM (regular, not ink): just as before, thin your miniatum using your water and pipette. This product does NOT come already thinned, so thinning it further will actually allow it to be worked with. After thinning it, thin it further. Miniatum will give a RAISED GILDING.
Again, after thinning the size, add a pea-sized amount of warm-toned gauche and stir using your stirring spoon or popsicle stick. For this size, I lay 3-4 layers, depending on how raised I would like it to be.
Apply your size to your sketched area using your size-specific paint brush. After you lay the first layer, let it dry completely before laying subsequent layers. Depending on the humidity in your space, this could take a few hours or a whole day. When you’re done with your paint crush, use some Lestoil to clean the brush and rinse thoroughly with water.
Find a nice flat, level area to store for drying. Miniatum and miniatum ink are both self leveling, meaning that wherever you put them to dry, they will level out to ground level, rather than the level of their resting place; good to keep in mind as you pick their location for drying.
Once the size is dry, you will need to active the size with humidity. The best way to do this is to use your breath, and breathe on small areas of size like you were trying to fog a window. Wait about 5-10 seconds and then gently press your small area with your gold leaf (while it is still one its paper). After pressing your gold to the size, gently remove the paper.
With your gold-leaf paint brush, gently brush your nose or your cheek (to acquire some oils) and brush the loose areas of gold onto itself. You can also use this brush to smooth out areas that are layered on one another for a seamless finish.
If desired, you can use a burnisher and glassine to fasten down edges or to smooth rough areas, and finish with your silk pounce bag for additional shine. I find that I don’t usually need the pounce bag, but do use the burnisher to fasten down the edging.
NOTE: gold leaf sticks to just about anything, so it is helpful to lay gold leaf BEFORE laying any other paint. However, gold leaf is also very delicate. Wearing only gloves when painting over and around gold leaf could cause the gold leaf to detach from the sizing. I recommend using tracing or wax paper to rest your hand on anywhere there is gold leaf, to prevent the rubbing from your painting glove.
Michele P. Brown. Understanding Illuminating Manuscripts: A Guide to Technical Terms. London: The J. Paul Getty Museum, and The British Library Board, 1994.
The Göttingen Model Book, Guttenburg Digital, for 4r (1770) Guttenburg and his impact, Project Guttenburg.
Baranov, Vladimir, et al. Medieval Manuscript Manual (n.d.) Central European University, Budapest. Digital
Welcome to my blog! This is a space I plan to share my created works, my struggles and accomplishments, and research when it happens.
I started my journey in the SCA a little over 1 year ago in the East Kingdom and about 5 months ago was taken as a student to Baroness Audrye Beneyt. I began attending dance and scribal practice regularly and fell in love with the arts. It is a safe place to express myself and have fun while giving back to a community I cherish. I have since found sewing, embroidery, music, and loom weaving in addition to illumination, calligraphy, and dance.
As I create I will post images of the work I have done, along with the original or inspirations, and media used.
You Bet Collette 