IMGR33 (2)

GILDING AND TECHNIQUES OF DECORATION sunulatcd in che woodcn moulds. When complctcd the wock was ‘set' by drying it undcr beat which varicd according to the meaiurc of rigidity rcquiied - che greater the hcat the harder the finish; but normal hangings would not rcquirc to be stiff, and natural drying would suffice. The carliest datę that can be ascribed to the introduction of moulding of leather hangings is the Lut quartcr of the sixtecnth century, nuinly on stylistic giounds but also bccause thete are no referent** to the proccss at an carlicr datę. As previousIy noted, claims have bcen madę for both Flandcrs and HoUand as the originator of the proces*. Thete is no evidcnce that it was ever uscd in Spain. In France it was uscd ocrtainly as early as about 1700.’

Tbchnigał Procbssbs

Fortunatcly thrcc detailed descriptions are extant of proccstcs employed in the making of gili leather hangings. The earliest, by an Iulian, Fioravanti, dates fiom 1567.* The writer sute* that at that timc one took skin* of leather with which shoes wcrc cmbcllished or lined¹ and placcd them overnight in water; the following morning they were beaten, one by one, on a polishcd itone to soften them; they wcrc then well washed (probably to rcmove dressing applied to render them suiuble for footwear) and afterwards stretched (or, as we should say, ‘set out') on another itone, using an iron tool (slicker) madę for the purposc. This operation in another contcxt - the making of grcasc-lubócated leather for harness and strapi - it part of the cuma's job, prcccding the working-in of 'dubbin* (cod-oił and caDow), and it may accounc for the occasional tac. in Frcnch rccords, of the term tomjtr in connection with the preparanon of leather for hangings, which otherwśse appears curious as no greasc was employed for such leather. Size madę fiom parchment scraps was then spread by hand and the skin covered with s3ver leaf; it was hung up to dry and subsequendy nailcd to a board, cłeaned and then cm to approxinutc size afier which the sutface was bumished with a hematite or blood-stooe. Then a design (cm in relief oo a woodcn błock) was primed on the surfocc, using ink madę fiom Sandrach and hmpbłack (design* were also painted by hand). When this was dry, ycllow vamish* was applied to rimnlatc gold, but whcrc porrions of the design were iequircd to resnain sśłvcr.

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•    Kne II fiom dc Bcndmy*i aniele is dodjr amcciacd wid) ihc moaldmg I70t. ban* akaed. onlj in daaiL fi* mc ia 1762. Sec Fig.«.

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ModemSpuuh(a) fan Seeałsop.ayandn.i.

*    ““ł"«mi* which when ippŁcd 10 idm <r da fofl Buy te mad m Tnoophda (o^ cit, dok j. pege jo) eh. XXVI m FionYaaa

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