Summary Technology and Conservation of the Visual Arts, use in combination with slides (study with pp)
Definition ‘Technology’:
- “Application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes.”
- Origin of two Greek words: Technè (material fabrication) and logos (discourse = word/reason)
- But it can also stand for: art, skill, principle, method, technique.
Before the 19th century, artists were seen as geniuses with muses.
You would almost forget that these types of artworks were made by people.
We must look below the surface for more information.
Questions we should ask:
What?
- Materials? Meaning? Tools?
- The meaning of these materials? The tools that were used for the making or analyzing of the artwork?
e.g., Why would an artist choose to use gold? What is the meaning behind it?
As a statement of wealth and/or a suggestion of light.
How?
- Processes? Techniques used to examine processes?
- Different stages? To analyze?
Who?
- Individuals involved in these processes? One artist?
- Their status? Division of labor among teams?
Where and when?
- Spaces? Creation of techniques and their travels?
- How long did it take to make the artwork?
1
, 1. Paper, from rags to riches (Lesson 1)
1.1. Origins: from China to Europe
a) A Chinese invention
- Remnants found in tombs : dated 2nd century B.C.
- Codification by Cai Lun (pronounced T’sai Lun) c. 105 AD. He was a court man, but he did not invent paper!
- Before paper, parchment was used for writing. Parchment is made from animal skin.
- Paper is made from vegetables fibers, such as:
o Hemp (Hennep)
o Nettle (Brandnetel)
o Bamboo (Bamboe)
o Primarily mulberry (Moerbei)
- These vegetal barks (plantaardige schors) are:
1. Cut and peeled
2. Boiled in a solution containing wood ashes, until complete defibration = breakage into fibers)
3. Left to macerate with water and lime to swell.
(Maceratie is een zuiver fysisch proces waarbij een lichaam of voorwerp enige tijd wordt
blootgesteld aan de inwerking van een vloeistof zoals water, olie of alcohol zonder toevoeging
van warmte.)
4. Sheet making: dipping mould in pulp to shape the paper sheet.
Then this mix/substance is put through a mould, equipped with a sieve.
Through this sieving process, the fibers are retained while water is squeezed out.
5. Left to dry in the sun.
b) The journey of paper from China to North Africa
610 The technique spread to Korea and Japan
751 Battle of Talas, led to Chinese influence into the moslim world.
795 Creation of the first paper manufacture in Baghdad (todays Iraq).
8th century The center of paper production shifted to Samarkand (todays Uzbekistan).
At this point the paper of Samarkand was seen as the best of the world.
Because of Samarkand’s central location, it was also used as a place where travelers would
restock on their paper.
They started using plants like flax and hemp which resorted into better results including
whiteness and solidity.
9th century Paper reaches Egypt.
10th century Paper reaches Tunisia and Morocco.
11th century Several papermills recorded in Fez.
Fez starts to import paper to Spain, which was under Muslim regime.
Paper was not yet made in Europe but already importer through Spain and Italy.
In the early Circa. 400 mills in the city of Fez.
13th century
c) The beginnings of paper in Europe
Spain
In the 10th century the first paper mills opened in Andalusia (Sevilla).
Later in the north (paper mills in Xativa in 1056 and Toledo in 1085)
Cluny travelled to Compostela and noticed the difference in paper:
2
,“The books we read are made with skins of ram, veal, or papyrus, or paper made out of rags”.
(Peter the Venerable, Abbot of Cluny)
Italy
This was the most important point for paper to enter Europe.
The commercial exchange of paper through Italy first started because of the crusades.
Circa. 1276 the Fabriano Paper mill opened in central Italy. Here we notice the first use of hydraulic power to beat
the vegetal barks into paste.
Other improvements made in Italy: Watermarks (the marking of paper, unique to each mill), felt, gelatin and drying
lofts.
At this point the main contribution was done by Italian papermills, who produced better paper than Spain.
France
The making of paper was motivated by the presence of universities, to be able to provide school with paper and
books:
1348: Troyes, France
1354: Essones
1376: Saint Cloud
In the middle of the 15th century: in West of France, in Normandy, Britany, as well as in Central France.
After Italy, France served as the second biggest producer. Until the 19 th century, paper in France was made from old
rags and clothes.
Today
Paper is machine-made out of wood.
The biggest producers are China and the United States.
1.2. Making paper in early modern Europe (circa. 1400-1800)
a) Paper: Places and materials
Locations
Near abundant supplies of water. To have a stream, canals were built.
Far from cities to prevent pollution, not too far for commercial reasons.
Materials
Raw materials: rags (vodden)
Locally grown fiber types found in rags: flax and hemp.
Because cotton grew in Africa, it was not yet used in Europe.
b) Making paper: an easy, step-by-step guide (7steps)
1) Selecting and sorting out the rags
2) Retting (fermentation)
3) Stamp beating and washing.
4) Sheet forming (paper sheets are made)
5) Drying
6) Sizing (sheets covered in gelatin)
7) Finishing (smoothing out surface with a stone)
1. Selecting and sorting out the rags = Délissage (gladmaken)
The threads and buttons were removed of bed linen and old clothes.
Then the rags were sorted by quality (thin, medium, thick).
3
, This work was done by women, who were viewed skilled in this technique. A lot of the time relatives would work
together who would teach the younger generation how to do the work.
2. Retting
= Maceration + fermentation
This was done in a rettery = pourrissoir (rotbak).
This was the process of destroying the material to make the paper strong and soft.
The rags were put in tanks with cold water to “rot”. To help the process of fermentation they sometimes added lime,
which helped swell the fibers and removed impurities of the paper.
The tanks required a certain level of humidity and was done by men wo were highly skilled.
The process of retting could last between 1-12 weeks.
3. Stamper beating and washing during beating.
Mallet = giant wooden hammers.
This step was done to separate the fibers to create a smoother paste with the consistency of butter or milk.
Different hammers set:
Corresponding degrees of fineness in breakage
8) 1st breakage
9) 2nd, more refined, breakage
10) Liquification
New Dutch invention: The Hollander Beater (invented 1650-1680)
4. Sheet forming
The mould existed out of a mould (which also served as a sieve/zeef) and a deckle (frame).
The wires of the mould are chain lines <> watermarks. These chain lines are used today to identify old paper.
A watermark was made from metallic thread onto the mould. This leaves a specific mark on the paper which could
be traced back to that specific mill, country, or year.
The vatman ‘pulled the sheets’: picking up the paste with the mould. The mould held onto the right amount of paste
and drained the remaining water.
He then ‘walked the paper’: shaking the mould. This was done to spread the paste, lose water and create a smooth
surface.
The coucher transferred the fresh sheet onto a felt = couching.
The felt was made from wool and served to absorb humidity and prevent sticking.
The felt and paper sheet were then put under a hand press, to squeeze out the remaining water, flatten the sheet
and increase its smoothness.
Post: different wet sheets of paper on top of each other, separated by moist felts.
The layer separated the damp paper from their felt.
These three workers were seen as the most important and skillful people of the process.
They could produce between 1500 and 4000 sheets of paper per day.
5. Drying
The paper was hung as lots for 3 to 5 days.
6. Sizing (=gelatin bath)
4
Definition ‘Technology’:
- “Application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes.”
- Origin of two Greek words: Technè (material fabrication) and logos (discourse = word/reason)
- But it can also stand for: art, skill, principle, method, technique.
Before the 19th century, artists were seen as geniuses with muses.
You would almost forget that these types of artworks were made by people.
We must look below the surface for more information.
Questions we should ask:
What?
- Materials? Meaning? Tools?
- The meaning of these materials? The tools that were used for the making or analyzing of the artwork?
e.g., Why would an artist choose to use gold? What is the meaning behind it?
As a statement of wealth and/or a suggestion of light.
How?
- Processes? Techniques used to examine processes?
- Different stages? To analyze?
Who?
- Individuals involved in these processes? One artist?
- Their status? Division of labor among teams?
Where and when?
- Spaces? Creation of techniques and their travels?
- How long did it take to make the artwork?
1
, 1. Paper, from rags to riches (Lesson 1)
1.1. Origins: from China to Europe
a) A Chinese invention
- Remnants found in tombs : dated 2nd century B.C.
- Codification by Cai Lun (pronounced T’sai Lun) c. 105 AD. He was a court man, but he did not invent paper!
- Before paper, parchment was used for writing. Parchment is made from animal skin.
- Paper is made from vegetables fibers, such as:
o Hemp (Hennep)
o Nettle (Brandnetel)
o Bamboo (Bamboe)
o Primarily mulberry (Moerbei)
- These vegetal barks (plantaardige schors) are:
1. Cut and peeled
2. Boiled in a solution containing wood ashes, until complete defibration = breakage into fibers)
3. Left to macerate with water and lime to swell.
(Maceratie is een zuiver fysisch proces waarbij een lichaam of voorwerp enige tijd wordt
blootgesteld aan de inwerking van een vloeistof zoals water, olie of alcohol zonder toevoeging
van warmte.)
4. Sheet making: dipping mould in pulp to shape the paper sheet.
Then this mix/substance is put through a mould, equipped with a sieve.
Through this sieving process, the fibers are retained while water is squeezed out.
5. Left to dry in the sun.
b) The journey of paper from China to North Africa
610 The technique spread to Korea and Japan
751 Battle of Talas, led to Chinese influence into the moslim world.
795 Creation of the first paper manufacture in Baghdad (todays Iraq).
8th century The center of paper production shifted to Samarkand (todays Uzbekistan).
At this point the paper of Samarkand was seen as the best of the world.
Because of Samarkand’s central location, it was also used as a place where travelers would
restock on their paper.
They started using plants like flax and hemp which resorted into better results including
whiteness and solidity.
9th century Paper reaches Egypt.
10th century Paper reaches Tunisia and Morocco.
11th century Several papermills recorded in Fez.
Fez starts to import paper to Spain, which was under Muslim regime.
Paper was not yet made in Europe but already importer through Spain and Italy.
In the early Circa. 400 mills in the city of Fez.
13th century
c) The beginnings of paper in Europe
Spain
In the 10th century the first paper mills opened in Andalusia (Sevilla).
Later in the north (paper mills in Xativa in 1056 and Toledo in 1085)
Cluny travelled to Compostela and noticed the difference in paper:
2
,“The books we read are made with skins of ram, veal, or papyrus, or paper made out of rags”.
(Peter the Venerable, Abbot of Cluny)
Italy
This was the most important point for paper to enter Europe.
The commercial exchange of paper through Italy first started because of the crusades.
Circa. 1276 the Fabriano Paper mill opened in central Italy. Here we notice the first use of hydraulic power to beat
the vegetal barks into paste.
Other improvements made in Italy: Watermarks (the marking of paper, unique to each mill), felt, gelatin and drying
lofts.
At this point the main contribution was done by Italian papermills, who produced better paper than Spain.
France
The making of paper was motivated by the presence of universities, to be able to provide school with paper and
books:
1348: Troyes, France
1354: Essones
1376: Saint Cloud
In the middle of the 15th century: in West of France, in Normandy, Britany, as well as in Central France.
After Italy, France served as the second biggest producer. Until the 19 th century, paper in France was made from old
rags and clothes.
Today
Paper is machine-made out of wood.
The biggest producers are China and the United States.
1.2. Making paper in early modern Europe (circa. 1400-1800)
a) Paper: Places and materials
Locations
Near abundant supplies of water. To have a stream, canals were built.
Far from cities to prevent pollution, not too far for commercial reasons.
Materials
Raw materials: rags (vodden)
Locally grown fiber types found in rags: flax and hemp.
Because cotton grew in Africa, it was not yet used in Europe.
b) Making paper: an easy, step-by-step guide (7steps)
1) Selecting and sorting out the rags
2) Retting (fermentation)
3) Stamp beating and washing.
4) Sheet forming (paper sheets are made)
5) Drying
6) Sizing (sheets covered in gelatin)
7) Finishing (smoothing out surface with a stone)
1. Selecting and sorting out the rags = Délissage (gladmaken)
The threads and buttons were removed of bed linen and old clothes.
Then the rags were sorted by quality (thin, medium, thick).
3
, This work was done by women, who were viewed skilled in this technique. A lot of the time relatives would work
together who would teach the younger generation how to do the work.
2. Retting
= Maceration + fermentation
This was done in a rettery = pourrissoir (rotbak).
This was the process of destroying the material to make the paper strong and soft.
The rags were put in tanks with cold water to “rot”. To help the process of fermentation they sometimes added lime,
which helped swell the fibers and removed impurities of the paper.
The tanks required a certain level of humidity and was done by men wo were highly skilled.
The process of retting could last between 1-12 weeks.
3. Stamper beating and washing during beating.
Mallet = giant wooden hammers.
This step was done to separate the fibers to create a smoother paste with the consistency of butter or milk.
Different hammers set:
Corresponding degrees of fineness in breakage
8) 1st breakage
9) 2nd, more refined, breakage
10) Liquification
New Dutch invention: The Hollander Beater (invented 1650-1680)
4. Sheet forming
The mould existed out of a mould (which also served as a sieve/zeef) and a deckle (frame).
The wires of the mould are chain lines <> watermarks. These chain lines are used today to identify old paper.
A watermark was made from metallic thread onto the mould. This leaves a specific mark on the paper which could
be traced back to that specific mill, country, or year.
The vatman ‘pulled the sheets’: picking up the paste with the mould. The mould held onto the right amount of paste
and drained the remaining water.
He then ‘walked the paper’: shaking the mould. This was done to spread the paste, lose water and create a smooth
surface.
The coucher transferred the fresh sheet onto a felt = couching.
The felt was made from wool and served to absorb humidity and prevent sticking.
The felt and paper sheet were then put under a hand press, to squeeze out the remaining water, flatten the sheet
and increase its smoothness.
Post: different wet sheets of paper on top of each other, separated by moist felts.
The layer separated the damp paper from their felt.
These three workers were seen as the most important and skillful people of the process.
They could produce between 1500 and 4000 sheets of paper per day.
5. Drying
The paper was hung as lots for 3 to 5 days.
6. Sizing (=gelatin bath)
4
