The following is the documentation for my wax tablets and tooled leather pouch. It is not a helm crest, but some of the leather work techniques will be used in making the leather base for a crest.
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Kingdom Arts and Sciences Competition
Storage
Event 12th Night,
2013
Entrant Lady
Heilwich Gheerts
Wax tablets to store information
&
A tooled leather pouch to store the tablets
Summary
I made a wax
tablet with 3 pages to record market takings and a leather pouch to store it.
The tablets are based on15th century pieces from Switzerland (Asplund 2012).
The pouch is based
on a tooled
leather purse, Metropolitan Museum of Art (see reference pages at the end of
this document).
I planed the
timber by hand and used a reproduction bow saw and reproduction knife to cut it
to size. I chiseled out the recess and poured blackened bees wax in. I cut and
stamped the leather to decorate the front of the pouch which I then sewed
together using waxed thread.
Next time I would
get more appropriate timber, such as oak (European) or Huon Pine (more local
and better for carving). I need to practice my plane maintenance, general woodworking
skills and lining up holes to prepunch for stitching leather. I enjoyed tooling
the leather design, I really enjoyed planing (very rhythmic and the wood
shavings are beautiful) and am happy to have finally entered a Kingdom
competition.
Comprehensive
Documentation
Inspiration pieces
The set of wax tablets in a
pouch are based on an extant set of wax tablets from the 15th
century, found in a monastery in St Gallen in Switzerland (Asplund, 2012), and
an extant piece of tooled leather from an incomplete purse, also 15th century,
held in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 
Tooled leather purse, French, 15th century
17cm x 18.9cm x 1.9cm
Wax Tablets - Planning and
Construction
Wax tablets have
been in use for many centuries before the Middle ages – Arculf, the Frankish
Bishop was said to have drawn maps on wax tablets and extant examples exist
from Ancient Egypt and the Bronze Age. The main extant waxed tablets that I
have aimed to replicate are listed on Randy Asplund’s webpage as follows;
‘I had the good fortune to visit the medieval monastery of
St. Gall in St. Gallen, Switzerland where I was permitted to examine and
measure a tablet codex (book) of eight panels quite closely. They still had the
15th c. German writing cut in the black wax. All of the interior panels were
two-sided while the end panels were only waxed on the inside surfaces. There
were no holes cut for binding cords, and instead there was a sort of glued-on
parchment along the spine. I do not know if this parchment hinging was added at
a later date. …
The dimensions of the tablets are about 14.8cm tall x 8cm
wide x 4-5mm thick at the edges. The border surrounding the waxed recess is
about 7.5mm along the length and about 1.1cm wide along the short sides. The
depth of the waxed recess is about 0.75mm, which leaves about 2.5mm to 3.5mm
thickness of wood under the wax of a two-sided tablet… A set of eight boxwood
tablets were found in York …Her description also reports that there were no
hinges or other bindings, and that the tablets were discovered inside a leather
case which also contained a small metal stylus.’
The examples shown in the references section display enormous
variety.
Process
I have tried to use as many
hand tools, materials and techniques as close to the original as possible.
I
started by trying to source a timber that I knew was in use during the 15th
century in Europe. I was unable to buy an oak, rosewood or beech in suitable
quantities and I did not like the ivory substitutes. An Australian wood sculptors
and workers organisation suggested that the darker merranti timbers were
suitable for carving. Although merranti is an Indonesian timber, not European,
it was free, came recommended and made a suitable colour substitute. I tried
planing down a piece and found the grain far too coarse to chisel out the
0.75mm deep wax recess. Then a friend helped to remove some pews from a church
and had excess timber. I have not been able to get the timber identified but at
a guess I would say it is probably Silky Oak (an Australia grevillea tree with
oak-like leaves, often used around the time of the time these pews were made,
for cabinetry). These pews already had 15th century style arched fretwork on
either end, showing the timber to be suitable for carving.
The
timber pieces were far too thick so I used a table saw to rip them in half
(from 34mm thick down to two pieces of uneven thicknesses). The smaller of
these pieces was 10mm - 7mm thick. I bought a wooden boxed hand plane of a
similar style to those shown in 15th century images and sharpened the blade. It
was quite a challenge to learn how to align the blade only using my eyes, hand
and the wooden wedge. I used a frame saw of a similar style to 15th century
saws to trim some nail holes from the end of the piece and began to plane it to
a uniform thickness. The base of the wooden box plane was not smooth enough and
my skills in aligning the blade made it necessary for me to finish the timber
with a better quality metal based hand plane. After another hour or so of
planing, I was able to get the timber down to 5 mm thick. The beautiful shaving
curls were gathered up in a basket and put aside for fire lighting and
stuffing, just as you see small children doing in some images of carpentry
workshops in the Middle Ages.
I used a sharp
knife to trim the pieces to size by repeatedly scoring until the pieces were
cut through. The thin pieces of timber were starting to bow in the humidity so
it was necessary to sort the pieces into pages in a certain order to ensure
they fitted well together.
I measured the
internal recess for each page and marked it out. Given there is such variety in
wax tablets from the period, I chose to use dimensions that are reminiscent of
the scale of the extant item but more suited to my pieces of timber. I scored the wood to 1 mm
deep and used a wide, shallow carving chisel to remove the void.
It
was necessary to work with the grain and even removing such a small volume of
timber produces masses of lovely wood shavings. I found the use of a work board
with an end stop board and another chock holding it to the table, invaluable. I
made the one in the picture above from pieces of scrap pine.
I lit a candle with
steel, flint and char cloth, and then held a reproduction 15th century eating
knife over the flame to collect the soot. The wax was cut from a large block
and heated in a small ceramic cup in the oven. The soot was mixed into the
liquid wax to darken it.
Filling the void
in each leaf with the blackened wax proved to be a major challenge. I tried to
paint to wax on with a thick brush, as suggested by Randy Asplund. Randy was
able to see the extant item in person and wrote in his article that he believed
the wax had been applied with a brush rather than poured in. I tried this but
the wax seemed to cool and harden as soon as it touched the wood, making a
clump on the brush that stopped any more wax spreading on to the tablet. I
tried heating the tablet in the oven before applying the wax but it still
cooled too quickly. I tried pouring the wax from a spoon and this made the wax
form smooth pools.
In
the end, I used the spoon to fill the recess with several hardened pools of wax
and scraped the excess wax back with the back of a reproduction 15th century
eating knife. This left scrape marks on the wax and dug out a few chunks of
cool wax. A warm oven melted and smoothed the wax surface but also melted the
wax into the open pores of the timber. I found it easiest to smooth these marks
with my finger.
Leather pouch - Planning
and construction
Inspiration pieces
This pouch was
made in the style of a kidney purse, due to the similarities in the basic shape
of the cover piece with belt holders and the popularity of the kidney purse in
the mid fifteenth century. The leather piece the front is inspired by was a
single piece of tooled leather, with a basic rectangular shape and slightly
rounded corners. The text on mine says 'armours metient' which is a portion of
the full text from the extant item;
'armours•metient
metient•ence•prigon
armours•metient
'love
holds me
holds
me in this prison
love
holds me'
Translation by the MMA
The concept of a
love focused inscription is a common theme in the fifteenth century.
It seems that during the fifteenth century,
leather was decorated using tooling, dying and cut work (examples in the
references). I chose to decorate my tabulae pouch with tooled work.
I used the same
font as was shown in the original leather piece and used design elements that
were in a consistent style, such as the single motif to fill a space and bars
of less decorated leather between the rows of text.
I
measured the required pouch size and formed a pattern. I transferred this to
the leather and cut it out used a sharp knife and metal ruler. I transferred
the lettering to the leather using rubbing and then cut around the letters to
about 1mm deep. I cut along the border lines and around the other images. Then
I sprayed the leather with water, flexed it to open the boundary cuts and began
to stamp down the background with a metal stamp and a hammer.
It was necessary
to use a smaller triangular stamp to ensure the corners were imprinted before
going back over the stamped area with a larger stamp to smooth the indented
surface. The stitching holes were
pre-marked, lined up and pre-punched. The seams were stitched and the pouch was
oiled.
When stamping the leather, the first pass with the
triangular tool differentiated the raised letters from the printed background
(top left of image). The second pass was made with the larger square punch
(upper right). The final pass used the larger flatter tool to smooth the
background further and the edge to clear up the visual edge of the lettering
(bottom left).
Evaluation
In order to get timber that
is more historically accurate, I will purchase 6mm pieces of timber in what
ever size pieces are on offer next time, instead of trying to make do with free
timber, or would like to try quarter splitting and then sawing timber to size..
I enjoyed planing the timber down and my technique improved noticeably during
this project, though I need to learn how to correctly position and chock the
blade piece of my wooden box plane. Having a recess of less than 1mm on the
tablets was actually achievable (I was not sure this would work when I
started). Painting on the wax to create a smooth surface was not. Next time I
would try to add more char black to the wax to ensure the under surface was not
visible, or even try using other dye stuffs to make the yellow and green wax
you sometimes see in wax tablets in images. Next time I will get to work while
my friend has his forge running and try to make a stylus from metal.
References
Tooled leather purse, French, 15th century. Accessed December 2012
Asplund, Randy (2012). Wax tablets and Stylus. Accessed December 2012.
Priest-Dorman,
Greg and Carolyn Priest-Dorman. Making and Using Waxed
Tablets: Some Highlights in the History of Waxed Tablets. Accessed
January 2013.
Ivory Waxed Tablet
(accession number 71.279 )
France, ca. 1330-40, by an unknown craftsman.
H: 4 9/16 x W: 2 1/2 in. (11.6 x 6.3 cm)
~*~
The Summoner’s Tale in Geoffrey
Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales tells us of a friar who
‘…bore two ivory tablets, well appointed
Also a stylus elegantly pointed
He always wrote the names down as he stood
Of those who gave him offerings or food…’
~*~
Wood and wax tablet showing the birth certificate of illegitimate
twins
April 29, 145 AD, from Alexandria, Egypt.
13.5cm
x 18cm
Advanced
Papyrological Information System website
*NOTE* This is one of many wax tablet birth
certificates shown on the this website.
~*~
6 wax tablets in pouch, late 14th
century, French
KBR, ms IV, 1278
Accessed January 2013
~*~
14th century ivory wax tablet
KBR, ms. IV 1277
Accessed January 2013
~*~
William
Smith, D.C.L., LL.D.: Tabulae
‘ Tabulae and Tabellae more frequently signify waxen
tablets (tabulae ceratae),
which were thick
pieces of wood usually of an oblong shape, covered over
~*~
Found in a ship wreck in Uluburun
from 1300 BC.
http://www.bloganavazquez.com/2009/12/19/el-barco-de-uluburum-causa-y-consecuencia/ Accessed January 2013
~*~
Two boys go to school,
Livre des Vices et des Vertus
BNF Fr. 20320, fol. 177v, 15th century
~*~
Leather
tooled pouch from Novgorod Archaeological Museum showing carved lines and
external stitching.
Accessed January 2013
~*~
Cut
and tooled leather pouch from Novgorod
Archaeological Museum
Accessed January 2013
~*~
75
AD A Fresco showing a couple in Pompei painted
with a wax tablet and stylus. Currently housed in Museuo Archeological
Nazionale
http://www.historyofinformation.com/expanded.php?category=Paper+%2F+Papyrus+%2F+Parchment+%2F+Vellum Accessed
January 2013
~*~
Jean Bourdichon 1505-1510
The
four conditions of society: Work
*NOTE* This image shows
several tools, including two versions of planes, gouges and chisels, knives and
a frame saw resting behind the man. I now have a lovely big basket of wood
shavings, just like the child.
