Annotation Plan Draft II

[Click here for our other annotation on Imitating Raw Nature.]

Table of Contents

Annotation Plan Draft II
I****. Text Analysis & Preliminary Thoughts
General Observations
Quantifying Materials
II. Materials, Tools, and Safety Protocols - Need to update this, or just refer to the Safety Protocol & Workflow sheet?
Materials Needed - Convert all volumetric measurements to weights
Tools Needed
Workstation Setup
Safety Info & Protocols (Chemwatch)
III. Workflow** **- Need to update this, or just refer to the Safety Protocol & Workflow sheet?
Measuring Ingredients: 11/21
Mixing & Casting
Testing
IV. Historical Research - Sources Checklist - TO BE UPDATED
Primary Sources
Secondary Sources
139v_1

I. Text Analysis & Preliminary Thoughts

Click here for a table comparing the transcription and translation side by side, along with commentary.
  1. General Observations
    • On Ingredients and Tools
      • Cire blanche: I chose filtered, but not bleached, beeswax in pellets (produced by Stakich and available on Amazon).
        • According to the author-practitioner, it is "much firmer and does not leave as much filth."
        • Marchand (p. 167) implies that bleached beeswax was commonly used for church candles.
        • The CAMEO entry on beeswax states that "the darker varieties are often bleached by exposure to light and air or with chemicals."
        • Ancient sources mention the production and use of beeswax. Pliny in particular offers a description of different types and production techniques in Natural History (Book XXI, XLIX, 83-85, p. 220-223)
          • "The best is that called Punic wax; the next best is very yellow indeed, with the smell of honey, pure, but produced in Pontus.": Although not explicit, whiteness seems to be a criterion for rating different types of wax.
          • "Punic wax is prepared in the following way. Yellow wax is exposed to the wind several times in the open, then it is heated in water taken from the open sea, to which soda has been added. Then they collect with spoons the “flower,” that is, all the whitest parts, and pour into a vessel containing a little cold water. Then it is boiled again by itself in sea-water, after which they cool the vessel itself with water. When they have done this three times, they dry the wax in the open, by sunlight and by moonlight, on a mat of rushes. For the moon makes it white while the sun dries it; to prevent the sun from melting it, they cover it with a piece of thin linen cloth. The greatest whiteness, however, is obtained if after the exposure to the sun the wax is once more boiled again." The description matches CAMEO's short explanation above.
        • Reinhard Büll, Das grosse Buch vom Wachs (1977) [All translations mine]
          • p. 147-148: "[In the middle ages and later] the 'best' wax bleaching facilities of France were found in Brittany and Anjou." Need to check the chronology - see Universal-Lexicon aller Wissenschaften und Künste (Zotero).
          • p. 163: "It is known from Venice that a great deal of wax was produced there and that wax was bleached there since the eleventh century.... It is clear from a Venice statute of 1233 that Syria exported wax to Venice. Genoa imported from the North African coast."
          • p. 217: "White beeswax emerges from yellow wax through bleaching. The original bleaching process, already used in antiquity and still today by some wax suppliers, uses nature: solar radiation, water, and oxygen of the air. This natural bleaching of the refined and banded[?] yellow wax lasts about four to six weeks." Büll also refers to yellow wax as cera flava and to white wax as cera alba.
          • p. 575: "The earliest mention of cera alba (white wax) found in the 14th century is probably a late testimony, since in the 11th century Venetian wax was apparently bleached in Venice, which was at that time a very important trade center for wax."
      • Charbon: This term most likely refers to wood-based charcoal, rather than coal. I chose Bob's Fine Vine Charcoal, made from "select northwest hardwood" (available in lab). The company is located in Eugene, OR (no website).
        • Cotgrave (1611): "Charbon: m. A coale; also, a Carbuncle, or Plague-sore. / Le charbon. The first lines, or lineaments of a picture; , (termed so, belike, because most Painters draw them with a peece of Charcoale.) / Charbon blanc. A kind of coale made from the wood of the Crimson, or pricklie, Cedar. / Charbon de terre. Sea-coale, or Pit-coale. / Faire charbon de tout bois. To imploy, or make use of entire thing. / D'un sac à charbon ne peut sortir que de la poussiere noire: Prov. A coale-sack yeeldeth nothing but black dust; Blacke thoughts can none but balefull acts produce." Note that, in French at the time of Cotgrave, charbon seems to have been used interchangeably to mean coal and charcoal.
        • Le Grand Robert (consulted 16.11.23): "charbon n.m. / ÉTYM. 1251; charbun, déb. XIIe; du lat. carbo /, -onis <<charbon de bois>>" The etymology seems to suggest that charbon originally referred to charcol.
        • Jean Nicot, Le Thresor de la langue francoyse (1606, accessed through ARTFL, Dictionnaires d'autrefois): "charbon / Un Charbon, Anthrax, Carbunculus / Charbon vif, Pruna, Candens carbo. / Charbon esteint ou allumé, Carbo. / Le charbon, Prima lineamenta. Maniere de parler des peintres." These definitions are similar to Cotgraves.
        • Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 1st Edition (1694, accessed through ARTFL, Dictionnaires d'autrefois): "CHARBON. s.m. Bois embrasé.... / Charbon, Se dit aussi des tronçons de jeune bois qu'on brusle à demi, & qu'on esteint pour les rallumer quand on en aura besoin.... / Charbon de terre, Sorte de matiere fossile, dure, & inflammable, dont se servent les Mareschaux & autres ouvriers en fer dans leur forge." Note that by 1694, charbon primarily meant charcoal.
        • John Winter, "The Characterization of Pigments Based on Carbon": Charcoal is wood char, a non-crystalline type of carbon "formed from solid precursors that remain solid through the carbonization (p. 50)." Coal is "an organic rock composed of macerals (p. 50)."
    • On Procedure
      • The making of black sulfured wax can be summarized in the following steps:
        1. Measure wax and sulfur.
        2. Grind coal and sieve it until we have half the amount as wax.
        3. Melt wax and sulfur separately.
        4. When both are molten, take them off the heat source. Mix them together and stir.
        5. While continuously stirring, add the charcoal (off the heat source).
        6. While stirring, cast black sulfured wax in the mold "bit by bit."
      • Step 4: The author practitioner says, "do not leave [sulfur] on the fire because it will become too hard." He also mentions "the wax that you will have previously removed from the fire."
      • Step 5: This is most likely done off the heat source. Note that the author-practitioner does not indicate putting the vessel back on the fire. Going "beyond its ideal heating point" should thus be understood as a cooling process, rather than as a heating process - he warns of casting it "too hot."
    • On Characterizations & Uses (Underlined: to be observed/tested as part of the reconstruction]
      • White wax
        • "Much firmer and does not leave as much filth."
      • Coal
        • It allows details to appear clearly.
      • Sulfur
        • Makes the resulting compound hard.
        • When reconstituted, "in this way passed through wax, it will not catch fire at all when put to a candle." Compare this to Landsman/Rowen sulfur annotation.
      • Black sulfured wax
        • "Does not run like other things."
        • "The wax coming back out of the mold is thin and even": I think the author-practitioner is referring to wax overflowing from the mold at the moment of casting. During the reconstruction, I will attempt to overfill one of the cavities.
        • "Very soft & friendly & pliant, like copper."
        • "If it is hard [this is] because of sulfur, which makes it melt more easily than other [wax], so much that you can see evidence on a hot slate": Confusing in comparison to the characterization above. Does this mean that the hardness is variable? The author-practitioner seems to think malleability as distinct from meltability. Ask PHS about this.
        • "Sulfur...will be found the second time you melt it, [as] cracks on the bottom."
        • "Will melt with little heat and leave without leaving any filth."
        • "One uses the same wax in place of varnish to...engrave on silver & copper with aqua fortis": Ask PHS about this - worthwhile to test? Any safety issues with copper?
        • "With this [wax] too, one fills the cavity of a relief, & then casts in this cavity, with moistened sand, which immediately takes the relief very neatly": Very confusing. Ask PHS about this.
  2. Quantifying Materials
    • Note that all quantities are indicated in volumes.
    • White wax..."as much as you need to cast the animal that you propose": hence variable
    • "A half quantity of ground coal"
    • Sulfur: "as the amount of a large...walnut" for each "full earred-porringer of melted wax." Remember to correct the translation!
    • Escuelle à oreilles (earred-porringer): After searching through Joconde, Met, V&A databases and Google, I found five extant examples of ecuelles/porringer closest in date to the manuscript.
      1. Ceramic ecuelle (Musée Biochet-Brechot, 2011.0.3317), sixteenth century: Height 5.5 cm; Diameter 14.5 cm
      2. English pewter porringer (V&A, M.50-1945), early sixteenth century: H. 4.4 cm; D. 13.7 cm (w/o handles)
      3. English earthenware porringer (V&A, C.71-1951), ca. 1580-1650: H. 2 5/8 in; D. 6 in (including handle)
      4. Dutch earthenware porringer (V&A, C.38-1966), 1600-1650: H. 7.8 cm (including foot); D. 13 cm (w/o handles)
      5. English pewter porringer (Christie's, May 1, 2007, Lot 15), mid-sixteenth century: D. 16.5 cm (overall)
      • Taking #2 as an example, a cylinder with a height of 4.4 cm and a radius of 6.85 cm has a volume of 648.61 ml. The porringer would hold less than this amount.
    • Amount of a large...walnut: modern baking recipes often use this descriptor for portioning out cookie doughs (e.g. this thread on Series Eats). It would be somewhere between 1 and 2 tablespoons (15-30 ml). Take Donna's suggestion and look for walnuts in period paintings. Also see if anything turns up on EEBO?
    • For this experiment, I choose the ratio of 30 ml of sulfur : 500 ml of wax : 250 ml of coal.
    • Scaled down: 12 ml of sulfur : 200 ml of wax : 100 ml of coal
  3. Comparative Materials
    • Wax with no additives
    • Wax through which sulfur has been passed. I am using the same ratio as the one for black sulfured wax, minus coal: 12 ml of sulfur : 200 ml of wax.

II. Materials, Tools, and Safety Protocols - Need to update this, or just refer to the Safety Protocol & Workflow sheet?

  1. Materials Needed - Convert all volumetric measurements to weights
    • White wax: about 600 ml of wax.
    • Ground coal: 100 ml of coal.
    • Sulfur powder: 24 ml of sulfur (so that we have enough to melt). Check with PHS about this.
  2. Tools Needed
    • Containers for wax, sulfur, and coal
    • Measuring beakers
    • Measuring spoons
    • Spoons
    • Mortar and pestle to crush coal
    • Cheesecloth: in lab inventory (6 ft^2)
    • Ceramic plate to receive coal
    • Two metal crucibles to melt wax and sulfur separately, plus 1 metal crucible to melt wax without any additives
    • Sticks to stir mixtures
    • Hotplates
    • Molds: 2 silicone molds
    • Testing tools: TO BE DETERMINED - CONSULT with PHS on 12/08
  3. Workstation Setup
    1. Measuring Ingredients
      • Wax: measuring beaker/container on a countertop,
      • Coal: mortar & pestle, cheesecloth, ceramic plate, container on a countertop
      • Sulfur: measuring beaker/container in fume hood
    2. Mixing & Casting
      • Black sulfured wax: two crucibles on 1 or 2 hotplate(s), stirring sticks, and molds in fume hood
      • Wax with no additives (control): a crucible on a hotplate, and molds on a countertop
    3. Testing
      • TO BE DETERMINED - CONSULT with PHS on 12/08
  4. Safety Info & Protocols (Chemwatch)
    • Beeswax (#35358)
      • Flammability 1; Reactivity 1
      • Avoid contamination with oxidising agents i.e. nitrates, oxidising acids, chlorine bleaches, pool chlorine etc. as ignition may result.
      • PPE: gloves, glasses, lab coat, [fume hood in lieu of mask]
      • DO NOT allow wash water from cleaning or process equipment to enter drains.
    • Sulfur (#1350)
      • Flammability 2; Body Contact 2 (skin & eye irritation)
      • PPE: gloves, glasses, lab coat, [fume hood in lieu of mask]
      • DO NOT allow wash water from cleaning or process equipment to enter drains.
    • Coal (#1362-1)
      • Flammability 2; Toxicity 1; Body Contact 1 (eye irritation); Reactivity 2; Chronic 1
      • Avoid contamination with oxidising agents i.e. nitrates, oxidising acids, chlorine bleaches, pool chlorine etc. as ignition may result.
      • PPE: gloves, glasses, lab coat, [fume hood in lieu of mask]
      • DO NOT allow wash water from cleaning or process equipment to enter drains.

III. Workflow - Need to update this, or just refer to the Safety Protocol & Workflow sheet?

  1. Measuring Ingredients: 11/21
    1. Measure out about 100 ml of coal
    2. Grined it with a mortar & pestle
    3. Pass it through cheesecloth
    4. Repeat 2 & 3 until all coal passes through cheesecloth
    5. Store for mixing & casting
  2. Mixing & Casting
    • Black sulfured wax
      • Measure out 4 ml sulfur and 200 ml of wax. Bring out the coal prepared on 11/21.
      • Set up the workstation in a fume hood: 2 crucibles on 1 or 2 hotplate(s), stirring sticks, molds
    • Wax with no additives (control)
      • Measure out 200 ml of wax.
      • Set up the workstation on a countertop: 1 crucible on a hotplate, molds
  3. Testing

IV. Historical Research - Sources Checklist - TO BE UPDATED

  1. Primary Sources
    • Cellini: 3 mentions of "black wax" without explaining what it is. A few other wax compounds. Checked 161212 (Zotero)
    • Theophilus: None Found
    • Biringuccio, La pyrotechnie, ou, Art du feu, translated by Jacques Vincent (Rouen, 1627): Eng. trans. checked 161212 (Zotero)
      • (p. 66, in a passage on sulfur) "Et le semblable ont les vendeurs de cire, lesquels blanchissent leurs cierges avec la fumée du souffre réduite dedans une de leurs casses." Was sulfur used to bleach wax?
      • (p. 144, in a chapter on molding) Biringuccio mentions compounds with "suif bruslé, charbon d’amende, taille brisée accompagnée d’un peu de farine vieille."
    • Cennini: checked 161127
      • (p. 78) "HOW YOU MAY MODEL ON A WALL WITH WAX. CHAPTER CXXX / Furthermore, you may model on a wall with melted wax and ship pitch mixed together: the two parts wax, the third, pitch. Model with a brush. Have it hot." Although ship pitch is not the same as charcoal/coal, the recipe refers to a compound consisting of wax and a black material.
  2. Secondary Sources
    • Beretta, Marco. “Usi scientifici della cera nell’antichità,” in Quaderni Storici, 2009 XLIV 1, 15-34.
    • Büll, Reinhard. Das grosse Buch vom Wachs: Geschichte, Kultur, Technik. 2 vols. Munich: Callwey, 1977.
    • Daninos, Andrea, ed. Waxing Eloquent: Italian Portraits in Wax. Milan: Officina Libraria, 2012.
    • Didi-Huberman, Georges. “Viscosities and Survivals.” In Ephemeral Bodies: Wax Sculpture and the Human Figure, edited by Roberta Panzanelli, translated by Jane Marie Todd, 154–63. Los Angeles: Getty Research Institute, 2008.
    • Kretzschmar, Marthe. Herrscherbilder aus Wachs: lebensgrosse Porträts politischer Machthaber in der frühen Neuzeit. Berlin: Reimer, 2014.
    • Marchand, Eckart. "Material Distinctions: Plaster, Terracotta, and Wax in the Renaissance Artist's Workshop." In The Matter of Art: Materials, Practices, Cultural Logics, c. 1250-1750, edited by Christy Anderson, Anne Dunlop, and Pamela H. Smith, 160-173. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2015.
    • Pinkus, Assaf. Sculpting Simulacra in Medieval Germany, 1250-1380. Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2014.
    • Piraino Papoff, Pietro. Ceroplastica: percorso storico e fotografico di un’arte antica. Marsala: Navarra, 2011.
    • Pliny. Natural History, Volume VI: Books 20-23. Translated by W. H. S. Jones. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1951.
    • Schlosser, Julius von. “History of Portraiture in Wax.” In Ephemeral Bodies: Wax Sculpture and the Human Figure, edited by Roberta Panzanelli, translated by James Michael Loughridge, 171–303. Los Angeles: Getty Research Institute, 2008.
    • Simonetti, Farida. Sortilegi di cera : la ceroplastica tra arte e scienza. Genova: Sagep, 2012.
    • Le Breton, Gaston. Essai historique sur la sculpture en cire. Rouen: E. Cagniard, 1894.