53460 IMGR22

DRESSING THE SKINS

(Fig. i). Bul evcn che sofieaod kocher would have very limitcd use without funher raimoiL Ii would be w hal old-dme crafismcn callcd 'cmpcy*. In chat condition, for exanipie, ic would have bera uscless for boots and lhoes as it would have bccn advcnely adćcced by wetcing - akhough sevcral layers of it, apparently without modification, wac used for undal soles in Egypt. satisfactorily in that dry cli ma te. But it oertainly would noc have jtncded che praise accocded co che early /—iśmeci. (On che och er hand, particularly when used for bookbindings, osually of pigskin or deerskin, ic is noc subject to che loct of decay that has besec some kinds of vegctablc-«anned leachcr.) A condition of flabbincst, tłthough len marlced, can occur in ochcr kinds of leacher: che remcdy is 'foeding* or nafiing*. that is working inco che fibrous scructure bcncvolenc and supporting subscancct och as foc, grease, flour and egg-yolk, all of which were employcd for this purpotc by che nocna.

Crafismen*s rcdpcs survive from wcry early dmes and many concinucd in use, vircually nchangcd, untd modem dmes. Thcy are often difficult to incezpret bccause cvcn wlicn k ingrcdiena are all idcndfiable (noc always che case), they and che mechods employcd e mixcd up with che magie chat was an incegral part of mediacval life. Thus che bett de for coycring a coraclc was that of a black buli. An example occurs in an ancienc ibylonian rccipc for dressing leacher. In chis case suffidenc facts emerge co establish a rog ni zabić lilcencss co what is now callcd a 'combination tannage*, that is one which ipfoyi tomc of che acuve pnndplcs of diffaenc mechods - two in chis example, minerał d vegctablc: 'The skin of che kid thou shalc foed with tnilk of a yellow goac and with «; «bou shak anoint with purt od, with od, wich che fot of a pure cow. Thou shalc jcc alum in pressed-grape juice, then thou shak fili che surface |i.c. che grain sidc] h gall-nuts of che cree-culdvatots [of the land) of che Hitdccs.'¹ A somewhat similar tbod was sdU used in England in che iSSot: 'For skins dcsdned co form che finest vt leather (afies the uwing process), a peculiar kind of emulsion is employed. This Usion is ptepared by working up che yolks of eggs in the propoction of one yolk pa *• wńh a linie flour and wacer, che whole being vigorously worked up inco a thiń c. Inco dus mńcturc che skins are puc, one by one, and chey are crampled upon by che 9d feet umil che emulsion has become thoroughly absorbed.’- The skins are then 1 and scakcd. A morę daborace process was employcd in France, which in cflect bincd che two operations of uwing and foeding. For gloving leather the surfacc was bod or glazed (/kd) wich glass slicken and an emulsion of white-ofegg and gum or oap.

m Thuroo Dangm; MC Wam, Joba W, Tatka*: aa L#r, An mi fcśary. London. 1946.

'“•A. TheArt*fLe*Aa Mamfnt*re, irded., itęo,p. 117.

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