Field Notes

Date:3.28.2016
Time:11:15-5pm
Lab Team Members: Amy C., Yuanxie S., Olivia C., Joel, Jenny, Naomi, Donna, Pamela
Notetaker: AC
Azure Enamel

1) Discussed pigment supplies needed:

1. a. An important point is that the recipes call for “azure” which is the name of a color rather than a specific pigment. Therefore, it is important to explain why we felt it was most likely referring to azurite, the pigment with which we decided to proceed.
2. b. Other blue pigments that were commonly used at the time were: woad,indigo, azuite, and ultra marine from lapis lazuli. The first two are vegetal, and were often shipped as dried plant fragments and then made into dyes. Based on the description of preparing the pigment in (folio ##, [recipe name])—particularly grinding, washing, and use in (“XXX”)—we decided that this was likely a mineral pigment since the process described strong resembles levigation—which is still used to separate mineral granules by size for uniform density, and the preparation of herbal dyes typically includes drawing out the color out by soaking in water [XXX citations here.
3. c. Having established this we decided to order azurite.

2) Discussed which types of supports our finished products would have been applied to:

1. a. Blue enamel recipes list canvass (folio ##, [recipe name]), and stained wood (folio ##, [recipe name]).
2. b. Red enamel recipes list thick silver leaf, not of the variety used by painters (folio ##, [recipe name]). We took to mean silver foil used by jewelers as backing when setting gems, based on the fact that he discusses foils in gem setting in recipes for diamonds(folio ##, [recipe name]). Based on the fact that he distinguished between silver leaf for painters and thicker silver leaf, it seems that he was conversant in metal media of both disciplines which seems consistent with the suggestion that he was a metalworker, and may suggest fluency in practices of both painting and jewelry making.

3) Began preparing canvass support for use with Blue enamels on Monday with one modern substitution.

1. a. Materials:
   -4 pieces of pre-fabricated wooden stretcher frame
   -linen cloth
   -scissors
   -hammer
   -staple gun
   -2 broad flat paint brushes
   -rabbit skin glue
2. b. Method:
   -fitted pre-cut wooden stretch together
   -measured out the amount of linen that would be needed to cover one entire face of the canvass with substantial enough margins that the linen could be folded over the edges of the stretcher on all sides.
   (insert photos)
   -then we heated rabbit skin glue to 60 degrees C and painted a layer covering the entire canvass face
   -after letting this dry for 30 minutes under the fume hood, we applied a second layer of rabbit skin glue and placed it in the fume hood again.

3. c. Discussions
We decided to use a staple gun to staple the linen to the stretcher instead of hemming the linen with a cord folded into the hem and then lacing it in order to save time while achieving a similar level of surface tautnes
-AC

4.04.2016

Blue Enamel Experiments Day 1

We started today with a few of the Blue Enamel recipes from the manuscript. This was our group’s first day of testing these recipes in the lab, and we quickly realized that although we had gotten our safety & workflow protocol approved, we weren’t as prepared as we thought -- our workflow talked about safety procedures, setup, and cleanup, but we hadn’t been very detailed about where exactly we would start within the recipe we were first looking at (11r), and we didn’t have a systematic breakdown of the variables we would want to test. To me as someone without much lab background these kinds of things seem often intuitive and redundant to write down, but I immediately realized the disadvantage we were at without having thought through each of the steps in detail ahead of time -- especially for group work where people may have different ideas about the best way to approach a recipe. This was especially the case with this example since there are several recipes within the recipe.

Recipe 11r is written in a way that sounds almost stream-of-consciousness, jumping from one method to another rather than being a sequential set of steps. The recipe discusses techniques for washing azurite & levigating azurite powder, as well as methods for painting with it with either ceruse or egg white, so there are really several different things going on.

Levigation:

We weren’t sure whether it would be useful to test the levigating recipe, but we decided it couldn’t hurt and we were curious to see what the results would be. We used .10 grams of natural azurite (already finely ground), 40 mls of distilled water, and a paper towel. We dissolved the azurite powder into the distilled water, mixed it, and then let it settle for about 2 mins. After some of the bigger azurite particles had settled at the bottom of the beaker, and while most of the water was blue, we used a dry paper towel to absorb some of the colored water and deposit it into another beaker. Then we put both of these beakers on the hot plate in the fume hood to evaporate the water. In this process we wanted to test the viability of the author-practitioner’s method of levigation, and determine whether changes occurred to our azurite in the process.

In heating the larger particles of azurite on the hot plate, we noticed that the azurite changed color. (This is something we had read about, but we weren’t sure how hot the azurite would have to be to change color.) We therefore removed the finer particle beaker from the heat part way through heating and will monitor it as it evaporates without heat to see if there is a difference in application of these finer particles. (We also reserved the darkened batch of larger particles and tested the modified color mixed with oil later in day with the second round of experiments.)

We will continue to monitor the finer particle batch when the water evaporates, but we suspect that the experiment wasn’t very successful since the azurite was already finely ground.

Trials for Blue Enamels in 11r and 59r:

Next we experimented with the egg yolk and azurite pigment recipe in 11r, as well as the “azure” recipe in 59r, which calls for mixing azurite with “nut oil.” For both of these recipes we decided to test both the natural azurite and the synthetic azurite. (We wanted to try the ceruse + azurite recipe in 11r too, but since it requires lead white we decided to save that for another day.)

We started with:

1 g natural azurite powder

1 g synthetic azurite powder

1 milileter of walnut oil

1 egg yolk

For testing the azur enamel with egg yolk in recipe 11r, as well as the recipe for azur enamel mixed with nut oil in 59r, we began with .05 grams azurite per trial (.05 natural mixed with oil, .05 natural mixed with egg yolk, .05 synthetic mixed with oil, .05 synthetic mixed with egg yolk).

Before mixing the pigments, we also prepped our panels by piercing with a needle (the AP describes it as “piercing with an awl”). This process was surprisingly frustrating. It was really difficult to “pierce with awl” on the panel. This could be because it is simply a difficult process in general, or it could be that we weren’t using an ideal substrate and/or awl instrument. We also had several different interpretations of what pricking with the awl meant within our group. I perceived it as meaning piercing fairly deeply and then depositing pigment into the relief area. Amy & Yuanxie understood it as pricking shallow holes with the needle that would help the pigment adhere to the surface. These two methods resulted in interesting & very different results when it came time to apply pigment.

We began with testing the 4 pigment variations on plain panel (not pierced). Once we got around to the panels we had prepared with needle marks, we had run out of pigment and so we added .05 of natural azurite and .05 grams of synthetic for our remaining two experiments. Next we mixed with a small amount of egg white and tried “dropping” the mixture into the pierced areas of the panel.

Per the instructions of the AP, we tested the pigments on our fingernails as well. While we suspected that it wouldn’t be very different from testing on the pallet, we were surprised to find that the fingernail method was really effective for seeing the coarse particles present in the azurite. We found that the particles were considerably coarser in the natural azurite than the synthetic, and the color was not as well dispersed.

The last thing we did today was try testing the azurite powder that we darkened by accident with oil to see what color would result from heating the azurite. It resulted in quite a dark, blackish navy blue, which was interesting to observe. We also noticed that the heated azurite looked more uniform in size than the other natural azurite pigments - even though the heated azurite is supposed to be the larger grains that got separated out in the levigation process. Could it be that the heat also broke down the azurite somehow?

Observations & takeaways: We noticed that the natural azurite powder is much coarser than the synthetic. The natural azurite also becomes substantially different colors when mixed with the egg versus the oil. Natural azurite is a much richer color mixed with the oil. The yellow of the egg yolk was also visible. The synthetic version retained a much more stable & vibrant color when mixed with different binders. This could also mean that we didn’t blend the colors well enough and that the synthetic is simply finer, though -- we may need to try again and mull the color more to see if the natural powder looks more similar to the synthetic.

• Date: 4.8.2016
• Time: 1-3:30 pm
• Lab Team Members: Yuanxie S., Olivia C., Amy C., Joel
• Notetaker: AC
• Azur Enamel Experiments

• Discussions/ Prep:
  continuing on with our experiments form 4.04.2016, we decided to try making ceruse (white lead) based blue enamel today and also to try painting it on copper sheets in addition to working on the test panel. The recipes we based our protocol on for today were p39v, p61v, p124v.

• o p39r contains a recipe for general enameling and mentions that "Enamel takes more readily to copper than to silver, it is true that the cut has to be deep and rough. Azure in body and the red called gules, white enamel and thick green take [to such metals] very well."

• o p61v contains two recipes: the first mentions the use of finest ground azur pigment, oil, and, turpentine [ "One must choose the finest possible, for if it is coarse one cannot work in <m>oil</m>. And if you cannot find any that is fine enough, you may as well grind it, not with <m>water</m> but with <m>oil</m>, and grind it thick. Then lay it on your palette and mix in some <m>turpentine</m> but not much, to make it bind, and make it as thick as <m>butter</m> or <m>mortar</m>, and then with a large enough brush work it while always twirling the brush."], and the second offers the option of diluting the first in order to make highlights using ceruse ["the highlights will be made using the same diluted with <m>ceruse</m>, which makes it bind, making it easier to work."]

• o p124v is actually a recipe for rouge clair, however we referenced it because it "Pure <m>gold</m> does not work well with enamel because the <m>enamel</m> remains yellowish."

• Decisions/Goals:
  -based on these descriptions, we decided that we wanted to first do baseline color panels of azurite and ceruse to compare with the oil baselines we did last week.
  -then we wanted to do reconstructions which would
  • o (1) follow the recipe for azure enamel with walnut oil (since he mentioned “nut oil” in a previous recipe) and turpentine and to do trials of these with the natural and the synthetic;
  • o and then, (2) to make the highlights using ceruse. We also decided that that in addition to panel we wanted to test the enamel on a sheet of cooper foil in addition to the panel.

• Substitution Note:
  based on what we learned from the experience of drawing out the fine grains with water and a paper towel in a reconstruction of the manuscript writer’s historical legivation technique, we have decided to continue to do a synthetic trial for each reconstruction concluding that the synthetic approximates what would have been possible if every batch was levigated to draw out only the very finest grain and ground for maximum uniformity. The natural azurite we bought has granule sizes that are less uniform, but fairly finely ground.

• Materials:
  • o -azurite powder
  • o -synthetic azurite (blue verditer)
  • o -turpentine
  • o -cold pressed walnut oil
  • o -ceruse (lead white—pre-prepared from a tube out of safflower oil and basic lead carbonate)
  • o -PPE: latext gloves, tape/rubberbands
  • o -ceramic plate
  • o -pallet knives
  • o -electronic scale
  • o -wax carving tools
  • o -prepared panel
  • o -brushes

• Methods 1: Baseline Panels
  • o using the points on the wax carving tools we created little pockmarks in two corners of each of our prepared panel’s test squares (one cluster of pockmarks that were shallower, and one cluster that pieced the ground), then we also carved deep "rough cuts" into them (of shallow as well as ground piecing depths) so we would be able to see how the enamel would sink in and adhere
  • o once panel test squares were prepared we proceeded to measure out our ingredients for the enamel: we measured 0.15 grams in both natural azure and the synthetic azurite (blue verditer) and placed the amounts on opposite ends of the ceramic plate
  • o we then squeezed out lead white in the center of the plate from the tube and used two clean pallet knives to mix ceruse with each sample—aiming for a butter-like or mortar like consistency as suggested in recipe p061v.
    We found that this got very thick and hard to grind and that it felt powdery dry. Also the lead white was very over powering and made nearly ate the azurite up—it quickly became very pale light blue.
  • o Using the flat heads of the wax carving tools we had used earlier to apply each mixture to their respective baseline test panels.
    It sat well in the grooves we had carved when incising lines but was very thick and spilled out a bit. Joel suggested we use a bit of turpentine on a paper towel to clean up the excess that over flowed from the gooves by rubbing it with the turpentine a placed on the finger of a glove so that the lines of the design would be clearer
  • o We added some more pigment powder to each sample to see if we could darken them but although we added 0.2 grams more to each sample and applied these to the unpainted quadrants on the test squares but we had to mix in a little more lead white as it got too thick and so it did not darken considerably as the lead white proved very strong even though we added the least amount possible
• Methods 2: Azure Enamel
  • o We decided to start on the recipe in p61v for azure enamel by measuring around .25 grams of each pigment (ended up being .226 azurite; and .224 of the blue verditer) and placing them on opposite sides of the ceramic plate
  • o Then we added 0.15 ml cold pressed walnut oil to the plate next to each pigment pile and used pallet knives to mix it with oil and “grind it thick” aiming for a butter or mortar like consistency by adding a little more powder to each (0.141 grams azurite; 0.145 grams blue verditer)
  • o The recipe then says the substance should eb laied on a pallet with some turpentine “but not too much” to make it bind so we added 2 drops of turpentine to each—this thinned it out and also seemed to make the color more uniform, potentially b/c it helped dissolve the larger coarser grains
  • o This yielded rich dark blue color in both the natural and the synthetic, which we applied to respective squares panel test squares in varying coat thicknesses.
  • o We also laid down two thick globs to see if they would try to look like enamel, over course of our time in lab the thick coats started to separate.
• Methods 3: Azure Enamel Highlights
  • o Added ceruse to the plate between both mixtures of azure enamel mixed (as described above) and achieved a light blue color similar to the Columbia sky blue
  • o We decided to cut a bit of copper sheet at this point and divide it into 6 test squares with masking tape. We cut into it with rough deep cuts using the wax carving tools and painted into the grooves created with a bit of the highlight made from each mixture and a bit of each original mixture—the cooper was hard to carve
  • o It looked quite bright against the cooper and very much like vitreous enamelàis this supposed to be paint imitating vitreous enamel visually? Enamel without enamel?

Red Enamels, Day 1

Date: 4.15.2016
Time: 1:30-6pm
Group Members: Amy C., Yuanxie S., Olivia C.
Lab supervisors: Joel & Jenny
Notetaker: OC
Red Enamel

Experiment 1: Making Rouge Clair to Apply to Silver Foil

<p040v_01> Cross of the commanders of Malta

The fine rouge clair which is the background of the white enamel cross is of fine dragon’s blood drops soaked with eau de vie or Indian laque plate, which I believe is made in Flanders, distempered with clear turpentine and mastic drops and applied on a silver leaf, not the one used by painters but a thicker one, which is burnished by the makers of foil backings for gemstones or by goldsmiths, and that gives it its fine brilliance.

Materials:

• PPE
• Panel
  • Labeled with trials
• Dragon’s blood soaked with eau de vie (anise)
• Turpentine
• Gum mastic
• Silver foil
  • Glue (for foil application)
  • Gilding set and gilding-friendly workstation (protected from AC draft; humidifier going)
• ceramic plate
• Palette knives
• 2 droppers
• Glass jar (for gum mastic and turpentine solution)
• Masking tape & marker for labeling mason jar

Procedure:
We began with donning PPE (lab coats & gloves) and covering our work area with newspaper.

We needed to do a considerable amount of preparation for the recipe on fol. 40v, so we decided to focus on getting the mastic-turpentine varnish prepared during this session (since it needed to sit for 3-4 hours) and work with Jenny to apply the silver foil to panel. We decided to do the rest of the the fol. 40v recipe on Monday, so we did not get around to working with dragon’s blood in this session.


We first prepped the mastic and turpentine varnish solution by combining equal parts mastic and turpentine in a glass jar. Then we sealed the lid of the jar and left the mixture in the fume hood. Next, we set a timer for 3 hours to see check on whether the mastic had dissolved. (When we checked it three hours later, the mastic had not fully dissolved; we decided to let it sit in the fume hood over the weekend with the lid sealed.)


We then moved onto the fol. 6r recipe in experiment 2 while we were waiting for Jenny to arrive in the lab to help us with the silver application. When she arrived, we started with “gilding” silver. This involved first preparing an area in the lab where we used poster board to block the breeze generated by the air conditioner. We also prepared for the gilding by running the humidifier, and by sanding our panel with fine grain sandpaper to create a smooth surface.



Since we needed to apply silver foil to the panel, but only had two sheets of it, we started out skill-building with silver foil that was already in the lab. Our group quickly realized the challenges of applying metal leafs to panel -- how the slightest breath or laugh crumples metal leafs irreparably, and how difficult it is to accurately apply leafs to a panel. The skill building with silver leaf was very useful to get a hang of the material.

While we started out using a brush to lift the silver leaf onto the panel per Jenny’s tutorial, the brush was extremely difficult to work with, and seemed designed for gold leaf, which is thinner than silver leaf. Amy suggested trying a method from Cennini, where one uses a piece of paper to transport the leaf and place it upon the desired surface. We found that this was enormously successful, and resulted in by far the best silver leaf trial. Next we moved on to the silver foils. Though silver foil looks thin, we found it much different to work with. While we had needed to cut silver leaf with a dull gilding knife, the gilding knife was totally ineffectual on the silver foil, even when a lot of pressure was applied. We actually had to use scissors to cut the silver foil, which demonstrates how much heartier it is than a leaf. We found that the silver foil worked especially well with the Cennini paper application technique, and went on extremely smoothly and easily when applied in this manner.



For our last gilding trial we decided to do some gold leaf squares. We immediately found that the gold leaf was considerably thinner than the silver leaf had been, and much harder to work with. As Jenny suggested, going from thicker material back to the thinnest and most fragile may have been a mistake here. Nonetheless, we enjoyed the gilding experiments and successfully prepared panels for our red enamel recipes.


Experiment 2: Set Some Rouge Clair and Glaze It on Gold
<p006r_1> Red enamel on gold
And if you want to set some rouge clair and glaze it, grind some Venice lake on the marble with some walnut oil or linseed oil. Once ground mix some turpentine varnish or spike lavender varnish and apply; on gold, [when applied] with the brush, brazil wood and laque ronde fade away.

Materials:

• Madder
• Walnut & linseed oil
• Turpentine varnish
• PPE
• 2 ceramic plates
• 2 mullers
• palette knives
• starch glue (5 ml of ethanol + 20ml of water and a drop of 1:15 rabbit skin glue solution)
• 2 sheets fake gold
• 2 pipettes/droppers
• brush
• Masking tape
• Marker

Procedure

We were able to use a test panel that had already been gilded (and much better than we could have done!), so we did not need to do a gilding step for this, which saved us a preparation step and allowed us to do this experiment quickly while we waited for Jenny to arrive.

Our PPE and workstation was already set up from our prep of the mastic-turpentine varnish. Next we gathered the materials and tools needed in this experiment.

We began by measuring .15 grams of Kremer madder lake for each trial. We used Kremer (natural) pigment in both trials and tested it with both Linseed oil and walnut oil. On a ceramic plate we ground 0.15g madder with walnut oil, and the other .15g madder with linseed oil. We mulled these mixtures for a while.


Next we added a small drop of turpentine varnish into each of these pigments and continued to mull. The pigments remained slightly grainy after a good amount of mulling.


Next we applied these trials to the panel, as well as onto the pre-gilded square. We found that the pigment was very wet/oily, but it looked particularly beautiful on the gold, where it created an effect similar to varnish on gold.


This experiment seemed to work well, and produced a vibrant, translucent effect on gold. While the blue enamel recipes we’ve created were more opaque, they seem to share an optical quality of shine and saturated color.
Lastly, we left the panel in the fume hood to dry and followed our safety protocol to cleanup.

Red Enamels, Day 2

Date: May 2nd, 2016
Time: 11:00-1:30pm
Group Members: Yuanxie
Lab supervisors: Joel, Jenny, Pamela
Notetaker: YS
Red Enamel

Last time we mixed the gummy turpentine mastic mixture with dragon's blood. The mastic separates itself from the pigment. We thus want to try the clear liquid part of the turpentine mastic mixture and grind the soaked dragon's blood finer.


Trial 1:
1. Take out some solid dragon's blood from the spirit mixture. Grind it on the oil plate with the small muller which doesn't help grind. So we change a large muller. The dragon's blood becomes sticky and needs a lot of effort to grind.

2. Add 1 ml. fluid turpentine mastic drop. And once I mould it, they mix with each other and become extremely sticky.


3. I applied the mixture onto the silver leaf and the color is extremely dark. It does not shine out or create a lustrous surface. I tried my finger and it doesn't work very well.


Trial 2: In this trial, I take the liquid part from the dragon's blood mixture.
1. Grind the dragon's blood on the plate. The mixture is already fine and there are not so many large particles. (But I really should grind more because later on the silver leaf, I could see some small particles if the layer is thin.)

2. Add less than 1 ml clear liquid mastic mixture. Once I started to mould, they mixed with each other immediately, for I could feel the mixture becomes gummy.


3. I applied the mixture with the palette knife onto the silver leaf. The surface of the thick layer (dark bloody crimson) got dried like a film immediately. And I gently breath the surface, it shines and wrinkles. The thin layer turns out be a beautiful red.


So I think it is better to use the well-soaked liquid part of the dragon's blood and the liquid part of the turpentine-mastic mixture. The thickness of the layer would give different values of red, from bright to dark. The finger does not work well in this case. And it does give the lustrous effect of enamel.