How tough is gesso?

[Forty-One]

Some of the Dura Europos shields are faced with gesso. Has anyone reconstructed a shield like this and seen how it performs? I know it'd make a nice smooth surface for painting but is gesso resilient enough to withstand much wear and tear?

[PMBardunias]

Does anyone have access to the origial reports? Gesso is commonly glue or oil and gypsum powder, but I wonder if this is what they found. Did they just find some white residue and assume gesso? Could it be something other than gypsum powder?

[Caballo]

It may not be that strong, but would provide some protection forvthe underlying leather/ parchment facing of the shields? And it would be easy to repaint.

I plan to face my new shield with gesso and will let you know how it stands up.

[jvrjenivs]

Does anyone have access to the origial reports? Gesso is commonly glue or oil and gypsum powder, but I wonder if this is what they found. Did they just find some white residue and assume gesso? Could it be something other than gypsum powder?

Well, not to the original reports, but you can find Simon James' thesis freely available online via http://ethos.bl.uk/

[Forty-One]

Does anyone have access to the origial reports? Gesso is commonly glue or oil and gypsum powder, but I wonder if this is what they found. Did they just find some white residue and assume gesso? Could it be something other than gypsum powder?

I only have the thesis referenced by "jurjenius" above, but this quotes the Preliminary Report VII/VIII 368 in saying that the gesso was "[D]erived from a rather impure gypsum and perhaps some lime" so there seems to be more to it than just some white residue. It's reported on a majority of the shields recovered.