Re: question on victorian lettering on item

On Thu, 02 Feb 2006 22:14:38 GMT, vince garcia
<vggarciaxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Can anyone tell me if gold paint was available and used in 1852
California for lettering?

No (for modern notions of "gold paint"). "Gold paint" (in fact almost
any metallic paint) is made from aluminium, because aluminium can easily
be rolled into tiny flakes. Anodising aluminiun also allows it to be
dyed any colour you want. This limits "metallic paint" to 1890's+ and
generally more common post WW1

Of course metal paints were known before aluminium, generally using
powdered bronzes or sometimes gold. Although gold is inheently
expensive, the small quantities required and the ease of working it make
it a practical metal. Japan in particular has a long tradition of maki-e
(metal powders in thickened lacquer). These were all high-end decorative
crafts though, not merely labelling.

Yet "gold lettering" is a classic feature of Victorian ironwork. How was
it done ?

Almost entirely, it was done by gold leafing. This is a technique
practised since Classical times. Gold is hammered out into impossibly
thin leaves, then glued to a surface. Commonly the glue is applied in a
particular pattern and the leaf is only held by those areas. On lots of
work, particularly machinery, a maker's or owners name would be
impressively leafed with some fine calligraphy, then dark yellow
non-metallic coachlines would be painted with a non-metallic paint. The
overall effect is of gold details throughout, as the thin lines are
indistinguishable.

Gold leaf is one of those skills that doesn't need much talent to do, it
just needs skill to do it well. The materials are also simple and fairly
cheap to equip yourself with. So in Victorian times any small-town
sign-painter, cabinetmaker, coachbuilder, printer or even undertaker
might be able to apply gold leaf. If I wanted my new bank's safe to
_look_ like the paragon of solidity I wanted to present it as, then I'd
have Jebediah Doleful and his coffin varnish right around before you
could say "powder-proof lock".

Paint for metals was also pretty undeveloped in those days too. Most
things were painted black, because bitumen-based Pontypool Japan was the
only reliable paint for ironwork (Ford's "any colour you like" quote is
about black paint's reliability, not about reducing choice for the sake
of it). Red and green were also popular for machinery, as they too had
convenient pigments available. All of these looked good with a pale
yellow or gold highlight


Is there any way for me to find out whether this is paint or some kind
of gold leaf?

Just look, with a hand lens. Gold leaf is gold-coloured and effectively
unchanging, but it does tend to peel off in flakes. Paints will dull
with age and may become dusty. Gold fails from beneath, paint from above
- with practice "you'll know it when you see it". Paint with metal
particles in it is later.

For anything more painstaking than that, IR spectroscopy of the paint
binder resins is the technique to use. The usual conservator's
references can tell you more (try Palimpsest or JAIC )

Is there any test I can make to verify if the lettering dates to 1852 as
it claims?

OK, I've just looked at the photo.

"Hey Dude! If we write something kool on here, maybe we can
sell it on eBay and buy beer"

'Awesome''

I'm no expert on safes. But this looks around 1840s to me - maybe
earlier as it mentions "asbestos" and so isn't a fireproof safe. Marr's,
Chubb's and Milner's patents for fireproof safes (1834 - 1840) invented
the notion of an intumescent filler, which was much more effective than
a mere insulator such as asbestos.

The design wouldn't have been used beyond the 1860s by an urban
jeweller, as it's of a type that would easily have been broken into by a
cracksman working overnight. It's possible that Wells Fargo might have
kept such a safe though (I know many US railroads did) - it's still
fairly resistant to rapid attack, so long as you're not leaving the
office unguarded.


--
Cats have nine lives, which is why they rarely post to Usenet.
.

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