Were Late Roman belt parts tinned?

[Caballo]

Thanks all. Parcel tinning was a new one on me!
Very difficult to see but there does appear to be tinning in some of the crevices in the chip carving as well as the (silver??) border decoration.
Happy to send bigger pics out if you pm me your email.

Cheers

Caballo/ Paul

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

I was under the impression silver blackened with age?

[John Conyard]

Yesterday I tried applying some very thin silver foil, purchased from a craft shop, to an old 1st century spatha scabbard. It was fun to try, and the result was "startling". It actually looks brighter than my silver fittings, or my silver plated fittings.

Would tin foil look so bright?

We are an army covered in silver and gold. We have discussed buckles and helmets covered in silver and gold. Have we yet identified a buckle which is tinned?

I'm now going to use silver foil to decorate swords from the 4th -11th centuries. I'm trying to resist the temptation to use it on anything and everything.

[Marcus Mummius]

Yesterday I tried applying some very thin silver foil, purchased from a craft shop, to an old 1st century spatha scabbard. It was fun to try, and the result was "startling". It actually looks brighter than my silver fittings, or my silver plated fittings.

Please, do post some pictures!

[Tarbicus]

the result was "startling". It actually looks brighter than my silver fittings, or my silver plated fittings...

...I'm now going to use silver foil to decorate swords from the 4th -11th centuries. I'm trying to resist the temptation to use it on anything and everything.

Isn't it just cool "Woooooowwwwwww" was my first reaction as well.

No wonder the ancients loved to jazz things up that way.

[Caballo]

Yes, very shiny!!

My only comment is that tinning kept more of the surface detail which was blurred by the glue and silver- though that could just be my dodgy technique!

Cheers

Caballo

[Tarbicus]

Definitely your dodgy technique :wink: I can see every inscribed line clearly on my bits, and even scratches show through.

That said, the Romans would have used a thicker foil or sheet, but I still think detail would show through if done right.

A gladius with silver foiled attached:
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i311/ ... e_crop.jpg

[Caballo]

Great sword, Jim- and agree re my technique...

Had another look at the late Roman buckle in the Museum of London. The silver bordering is visible to the naked eye (but discloured) and I'm convinced that there is tinning in the crevices of the belt plate itself. I've asked one of the MoL experts to give an expert opinion- who hopefully will come back to me.....

Cheers

[Peroni]

I can see every inscribed line clearly on my bits, and even scratches show through.

Yep!

I'm gilding a wooden Bull for a standard at the moment and I can see all the slightest little marks and scratches in the foil.

I have used three layers of gold foil so far and still thge detail comes through.

[Salvianus]

Great photos and a very useful discussion: laudes Caballo!

[Marcus Mummius]

I can see every inscribed line clearly on my bits, and even scratches show through.

Yep!

I'm gilding a wooden Bull for a standard at the moment and I can see all the slightest little marks and scratches in the foil.

I have used three layers of gold foil so far and still thge detail comes through.

What kind of size are you using, Ade? On wood most of the time some kind of 'bolus' is used...

Vale,

[LUCIUS ALFENUS AVITIANUS]

Yes, you have to use "bolus" (in spanish, bol). That kind of coating/glue provides an uniform surface to recaive the leaf, and at the time have some flexibility that guarantees the foil don't break and then shows little scratches.

A trick is to burnish the gold with a burnisher tool (an agata stone, a wolf's tooth, etc...) to "clean" that marks and to give some bright to the foil.

It depends of a lot of factors: the kind of foil (gauge), the metal (true gold, brass).

Of course, if the surface is plain is easier to get good results. If the piece have some relief, it's more dificult.

[Tarbicus]

What kind of size are you using, Ade? On wood most of the time some kind of 'bolus' is used...

Jef, what's bolus? I tried gilding wood, but it was a disaster.

[Marcus Mummius]

What kind of size are you using, Ade? On wood most of the time some kind of 'bolus' is used...

Jef, what's bolus? I tried gilding wood, but it was a disaster.

Well, I don't have my literature at hand but I can give a rudimentary explanation, using what i remember at this late hour

Bolus is some kind of grounding onto which leaf metal is applied. It can have many different ingredients, but most of the time it consists out of clay powder (often white iron free clay, the kind that was used to make pipes, I don't know the english word for this clay) or chalk and some kind of natural glue (bone glue is used most often). Often several layers are used. The first layer often chalk-boneglue and the second one clay-bone glue.

Bolus is often coloured by the addition of pigments, for example yellow or red for gold leafing.

Leafing that has been applied on a bolus ground can be polished very bright with for example an agate stone.

Bolus will not adhere to metal so a mixtion/size will have to be used for this. In medieval times egg's white was often the main component of size for leafing.

Leafing that has been applied on metal with a size as the bond can not be burnished. If you try this, which you have probably done, you will just scratch away the applied metal leaf.

I hope this explains it a bit? It's quite complex as there are many different types of bolus gilding.

Vale,

[Tarbicus]

Is 'bolus' the same as (in english) 'size'?