NAME: Sofia Gans
DATE AND TIME: March 9, 2015, 9:30AM
LOCATION: 260 Chandler
SUBJECT:

Casting a Sprig of Rosemary

Molding Recipes:

117r

<title id=”p117r_a1”>Moyen de mouler les fleurs et herbes</title>

<ab id=”p117r_b1”>Il les fault choisir en leur entiere verdure & vivacite & les mou<lb/>
ne les ceuillir pas sil est possible qua lheure quon les vouldra mouler<lb/>
affin quelles ne se fanissent. Ou s’il te les fault porter de loing<lb/>
fais leur tremper la queue dans une bouteille deau ou pour mieulx de vin<lb/>
fais doncq premierement une queue de cire en poincte co{mm}e une quille<lb/>
de grandeur convenable a ce que tu veulx gecter co{mm}e tu vois au marge<lb/>
cottes A Pose & pique au pied de ceste petite quille un bout de<lb/>
fil de fer assezgrosset & fort Et a la poincte dicelle tu adaptera<lb/>
la queue de ta fleur ou de ton herbe Cela faict poser la propre<lb/>
a part Et disposes ton moule de t cercle & contour dardille co{mm}e<lb/>
tu as faict pour les serpents en forme de mandorre ainsy que selon<lb/>
la grandeur de ton herbe Puys prens celle que tu as praeparee<lb/>
pour mouler co{mm}e nous tavons enseigne & la trempe & mouille bien<lb/>
curieusement avecq de bonne eau de vye avecq un pinceau Puys passe<lb/>
la queue de fer par le bout de la mandorle de terre affin que la<lb/>
quille de cireq ou lherbe est hautee se joingne au bout de la mandorre<lb/>
de terre Et dispose tellement ton herbe ainsy couchee quelle demeure<lb/>
au milieu de la dicte mandorre sans toucher en aulcun coste affin<lb/>
que le sable que tu y gecteras prene esgalle espesseur co{mm}e par<lb/>
tout & excede soict de deulx bons doigts par tout par dessus lextremite<lb/>
de telle lherbe Et ayant bien asseure la queue de fer gecte<lb/>
promptement destrempe ton sable destrempe beaucoup plus cler<lb/>
que pour les serpents dedans la mandorle Et le plustost sera<lb/>
le meilleur affin que leau de vye ne se seiche point Et adiuste<lb/>
dy mectre un peu plus deau de sel armoniac parmy la commune<lb/>
que tu ne fais pour les serpents Et quand tu ferois du sable<lb/>
expres pour les bouquets ou tu meslasses un peu plus dalum<lb/>
de plume il ne seroit que meilleur Ainsy ton moule sera tout<lb/>
dune piece Et ne le fauldra poinct desjoindre Ains le laisse<lb/>
separer de lardille lors quil aura faict prise Le laisser<lb/>
seicher Et puys le recuire tant que lherbe soict bruslee Puys<lb/>
Et note que si lherbe que tu veulx gecter a la tige & queue forte<lb/>
tu la peulx gecter couchee co{mm}e dict a este Mais si cest quelque<lb/>
foible & delicate iect plante la debout avecq le pied de cire pourceque<lb/>
le sable la gectera relevera toujours en hault esta{n}t fort cler<lb/>
Noublie pas dadapter deulx souspirails avecq deulx petits bastons<lb/>
prenant au pied du gect qui est la poincte de la quille de cire</ab>

<note id=”p117r_c1a”>Si les herbes sont si delicates<lb/>
quelles seslevent en hault<lb/>
quand on gecte le sable destrempe<lb/>
on les peult arrester & contenir aveclq du filet passe parmy le cercle du moule avecq une esguille</note>

<note id=”p117r_c1b”>Tant plus ta<lb/>
fleur est subtile tant plus il<lb/>
fault que le<lb/>
sable soict clair</note>

<title id="p117r_a1">A way to mold flowers and herbs</title>
<ab id="p117r_b1">It is necessary to pick them in full bloom and color, and only pick them, if it is possible, when you are ready to mold them so that they will not wilt. Or if you need to carry them from afar, put their stems in a bottle of water, or even better in wine. Start with making a wax stick pointed like a big peg, of a size adapted to what you want to cast, as you see in the margin, marked A. At the bottom of this peg, put and prick a bit of iron wire, rather thick and strong. And at the pointed end of the big peg, you will fit your flower stem or your herb. This done, set it aside. Arrange your clay circle and outline as you did for the snakes, in the shape of a lute according to the size of your herb. Then take the herb you have prepared to be cast, as we have taught you, and wet and moisten it daintily with good spirits with a brush. Then place the wire end through through the end of the clay mold, shaped like a lute[760], so that the wax peg, where the herb is, touches the edge of the clay lute. And arrange your herb that lies thusly so that it remains in the middle of said lute-shaped mold, without touching any of the side. So that the sand that you put in the mold will be of equal thickness everywhere, and will be two fingers higher than your flower. And having made sure that the wire is secure, quickly throw your wet sand that will be much clearer than the one used for serpents, in the lute-shaped mold, and the quicker the better, so that your spirits do not evaporate. And adjust your [sand] mixture with a bit of essence of sal ammoniac, unlike the one for serpents. And when you make sand especially for casting your bouquets, mix in a bit of feather alum, this will only make it better. In this way, your mold will be in one piece and it will not be necessary to separate it, but you will have to separate it from the clay once it will have set. Leave it dry. And then fire it again until the herbs are burnt. Note that if the herb you want to cast has a strong stalk and stem, you can cast it lying down, as said. But if it is fine and delicate, plant up standing up with with the wax peg so that the sand will always raise it up, it being very clear. Do not forget to arrange two vent holes with two small sticks, which will start at the bottom of the cast, which is the pointed end of the wax peg.</ab>
<note id="p117r_c3a">If the flowers are so delicate that they come off the top when you are putting in the wet sand, you can stop this and curtail it with a net sewed onto the mold with a needle.</note>
<note id="p117r_c3b">The more delicate the flower is, the clearer the sand must be.</note> <note id="p117r_c3c">This is a noyau mold.[761]</note>


145v:

<title id="p145v_a1">

Mouler herbes et fleurs </title>



<ab id="p145v_b1">

Il ny fault point de plateines dardille pourceque </lb>

les herbes ou fleurs ne se couchent pas dessus </lb>

mays co{mm}e en lair sans toucher daulcun coste a </lb>

aulcune chose Seulement est est il besoing du </lb>

cercle & contour qui doit estre plus hault quaulx </lb>

moules plats Et par ainsy advise bien de le </lb>

faire fort et espes selon la grandeur quil te </lb>

convient Aultrement il se crenroit le sable </lb>

estant dedans Asseure le & le fortifie bien par </lb>

le pied & joincts bien toutes les joinctures Puys </lb>

ayes ta fleur bien joincte & asseuree adaptee au </lb>

bout cire du gect de cire qui ne soict poinct rude </lb>

ains uny affin quil se puisse bien despouiller </lb>

Puys trempe ta fleur ou herbe dans de bonne </lb>

eau de vie mise au bien main dans un long verre </ab>


<title id="p145v_a2">

+

Fleurs </title>



<ab id="p145v_b2a">

Quand tu les moules </lb>

si elles ne sont asses </lb>

fortes pour se tenir </lb>

droictes passe un </lb>

filet par le moule </lb>

pour les garder </lb>

quelle ne se haulsera </lb>

& gecte le sable peu a peu</lb>

& soufle tousjours </lb>

fort affin quil </lb>

sassoye par tout </lb>

Aultrement il viendra </lb>

grumeleus </lb>

Pourceque tu ne </lb>

mects poinct en c...y[?] </lb>

de platine dardille </lb>

le moule quelque </lb>

fois tient sur la table </lb>

que tu las gecte </lb>

Pour le faire </lb>

deffaire frappe un </lb>

grand coup dun marteau </lb>

au coste de la table </ab>


<image id="p145v_d2"> [image] </image>



<ab id="p145v_b2b">

Cest asses de recuire </lb>

une fois ton moule </lb>

luthe pour fleurs & la seconde fois </lb>

le chaufer Si tu gectes en estain & plomb

car pour lor & largent il le fault

recuire deulx fois </ab>


<ab id="p145v_b2c">

Gecte bien rouge ton estain dans

le moule tellement chault que tu y



puisses tenir le doigt sans lasier[?] dans le pertuis </ab>



<title id=”p145v_a1”>Moulding herbs and flowers</title>

<ab id=”p145v_b1”>
You do not need thin sheets of clay, because the herbs and flowers will not lay on it, but as it were in the air, not touching any thing from any side, so you only have need of a circle & contour that is higher than for flat molds. And in this way, take heed to make it strong and thick, with the heft that you find suitable. Otherwise, it will sink in when the sand is inside. Fix & fortify it well with your foot & firmly attach all the joints. Then, have your flower well attached & assuredly fixed to the bottom of the casting with wax that is not at all rough, but smooth, so that it can strip off well. Then moisten your flower or herb in good spirits in a tall glass.</ab>
<title id=”p145v_a2”>+ Flowers</title>

<ab id=”p145v_b2a”>
When you mold them, if they are not strong enough to hold themselves upright, run a thread through the mold to keep them lest they do not hoist themselves up. & cast the sand little by little & continuously and blow on it strongly and constantly so that it covers everywhere. Otherwise, it will become lumpy. Since you won’t put anything in thin sheets of clay, the mold sometimes sticks to the table on which you mold. To release it, strike a great blow on the side of the table with a hammer.</ab>
<image id="p145v_d2"> [image] </image>

<ab id=”p145v_b2b”>It’s enough to reheat your clayed mold once for flowers & to heat it the second time if you cast in tin & lead, insomuch as for gold & silver, you have to reheat it twice.</ab>

<ab id=”p145v_b2c”>When very red, cast your tin into the mold when it is so hot that you can[not?] hold your finger in the hole without [illeg].</ab>

157r:
<title id="p157r_a5">
Disposer lherbe ou fleur pour </lb>
gecter </title>

<ab id="p157r_b5">
Mets toujours a lenssus le principal envers de la chose </lb>
pourcequil vient mieulx et plus net que le bas </lb>
Fais le gect large & que de supraplus (qui est la masse) </lb>
aulx fondeurs de grand gect Et mesmement pour largent qui veu[lt] </lb>
le moule bien chault & estre gecte fort chault </lb>
Les choses fort tanvres veulent estre gectees fort chault </ab>
<note id="p157r_c1">
Quand tu </lb>
cognois que la </lb>
tige dune fleur </lb>
bruslee dans </lb>
le moule qui </lb>
ne souvre point </lb>
est bien reduicte </lb>
en cendre </lb>
cest signe que </lb>

le reste est bien brusle </note>

<title id=”p157r_a5”>Arranging an herb or flower to cast</title>

<ab id=”p157r_b5”>
Always put the front side of the thing on the upper side because it will come out better and neater than the lower side. Make the casting large & prepare the supraplus, which is the mass, after the founders of large castings, even for silver, which needs a very hot mold & is cast very hot. Very fine thing must be cast very hot.</ab>

<note id="p157r_c5">
When you know that the stem of a flower burned in a mold that will not open at all is totally reduced to ashes, this is the sign that everything else is well-burned.</note>

Materials:

• a sprig of rosemary, approx. 3 inches, fresh but not freshly cut
• wax gate and sprues (wax, red venice pigment, pine rosin)
• clay
• sand (plaster, brick dust, water, ammonium chloride)

Process:

Building the wax armature

• When the rosemary sprig was set in the wax pyramid that would form the gate, it was very floppy, so I had to brainstorm ways to make it stand up.
  • considered using needle and thread, as mentioned in fol. 145v
  • decided instead to use sprues and vents as a sort of armature to prop it up
• built my sprues and gates using wax mixed with pine rosin
  • fused them with a wax pen
  • had an outer framework and then brought sprues in at various points and fused them with the rosemary leaves
  • in the end it was pretty sturdy when stood up
    • there was one week joint near the top of the vent, hopefully it didn't break during pouring of the sand

Building the clay mold

• Started with a circle that left about an inch and a half of space on all sides of the rosemary
• built up the walls to 2 inches above the top of the sprue system
  • my first mold had walls that were too thin, so I had to rebuild it
  • even those walls (about half an inch) were deemed not quite thick enough, so I wrapped several layers of masking tape around the outside so it would hold together when the plaster was poured in

Securing with thread

• I was curious to try the thread technique mentioned in the manuscript to further secure my sprig, so I took a straight pin (we didn't have needles in the lab) and ran it through the clay wall of my mold, looped it around the top of the rosemary sprig, and ran it through the other side of the mold wall. Pulled both ends of the thread across the top of the mold and tied them taut.
  • It was very secure after doing this, but I also noticed that it bent the stalk of the rosemary slightly, and will probably be visible in the final cast.

Mixing the sand

• We had a liter of brick dust finely ground from the previous week, so we used that as a base for measurement. We mixed dry two liters of plaster with one of brick dust.
• We put water mixed with a little ammonium chloride in a flexible bowl, about an inch and a half of water
• we mixed in the dry material until it was a slightly thickened consistency, like a roux
  • we were running out of brick dust so the material might have been waterier than needed

Pouring the material

• I poured along the edge of the mold to prevent the plant itself from being damaged
• we ended up having to pour 3 times because we didn't have enough material (it was a large mold)
  • Andrew scored the top of the plaster between each layer to bind the three pours together better
• When the plaster was dry enough, we removed the clay mold, leaving the plaster core exposed

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ASPECTS TO KEEP IN MIND WHEN MAKING FIELD NOTES

• note time
• note (changing) conditions in the room
• note temperature of ingredients to be processed (e.g. cold from fridge, room temperature etc.)
• document materials, equipment, and processes in writing and with photographs
• notes on ingredients and equipment (where did you get them? issues of authenticity)
• note precisely the scales and temperatures you used (please indicate how you interpreted imprecise recipe instruction)
• see also our informal template for recipe reconstructions

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