Based on our meeting with Jo, first course of action is to reconstruct papier mache recipe of Filippo Baldinucci.
•Soak scraps of paper in water for several days until soft. Grind very well using a pestle and mortar until you get a sort of paste.
•Depending on what your mould has been made from, paint a layer of melted wax on its surface (or you could try greasing or oiling it well, rather like a cake tin). If you don’t do this your paper mixture will stick. Press the paper mixture into the mould, then use a sponge to absorb excess water. Leave to dry.
•To strenthen it, take a piece of linen or cotton (dampened), stretch it over the surface of the dried papier mâché and adhere it using flour paste or animal skin glue solution.
•This will take some time to dry, leaving it in the sun, or by a fire. When it is dry, with the piece of cloth stuck to the back, unmould it very carefully.
•It will probably have a rough surface. To finish it, coat it with several layers of gesso (see CenninoCennini: calcium sulphate + animal skin glue, or chalk + animal skin glue), sand lightly with very fine sand/ glass paper, prime with animal skin glue solution and paint.
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Second, as Nina has mentioned in her field notes, we will be working with recreating several stucco recipes as well as creating the impromptu masks.
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These are recipes from Ms. Fr. 640 that relates to use of the two words "papier" and "paper."
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| Moulding |
Recipes from MS Fr. 640
p029r_1 - Stucco for Molding.
Includes the recipe for both flour and chalk based stucco
p080_2 -Very Hard White stucco
This recipe has no instructions, features four ingredients, and one of them is ceruse.
p084r_a1 - Impromptu Masks
Instructions for 'life casting' using papier mache, as well as drying instructions, and ways to re-use the paper mache masks (crushing them up to re-use the powder for another papier mache product).
Schematic plan:
Historical research - To check Merrifield on top of Cennini and Baldinucci. To look at history of paper ( rag paper, historical paper).
Object based research - To see if it is possible to meet the paper conservator at MET to know more about paper and papier mache
Hands on research- To check the current drawing exhibition on Modigliani at Jewish Museum
Required Ingredients (added my list on top of what Nina has already written)
Reives water color high quality paper
newspapers
Shop and Buy Linen
Gesso
Rye flour [will need more since there's none left according to the spreadsheet]
tragacanth gum
Chalk powder
Plaster (powder?) [of Paris?]
Linseed oil (unsure if normal, stand, etc)
Water
White Wax [white beeswax in inventory]
venice turpentine
eggshell
ceruse*
A lead vessel(?) (in the recipe for 15-day plaster, it says the mixture should be put in a "clean lead vessel". Not sure if this will be strictly necessary or if we could find a replacement that has similar properties (e.g. a heavy metal???)
I have metal and wooden molds I can bring (but I would like to be able to take them back once the experiment has concluded? Is this possible?