ANNE WANNER'S Textiles in History   /  book reviews, articles
 
  Drei Goldkaseln des 18. Jahrhunderts aus westfälischen Sammlungen
by Richard Moroz, in: "Waffen- und Kostümkunde", Heft 2, 44. Bd. 2002, p.107
ISSN 0042-9945

editor: Werner Hofmann KG: http://www.druckhaus-hofmann.de
http://www.waffen-kostuemkunde.de/seiten/hauptseiten/zeitschrift_aktuell.html
 
     
 

close up from stole, 18th c. ,
gilt cross, dust of wool
museum Kloster Bentlage

 
back of silver chasuable, around 1750,
museum Kloster Bentlage, Rheine
 
   
  Summary:
In the 17th and 18th centuries the "Art of Gilt Leather", i.e. the imitation of gold and silver with specially treated leather, was very popular. On the recommendation of the Academy of Science in Paris its technique and use was described in 1761 by Auguste-Denis Fougeroux de Bondaroy to preserve this knowledge for future generations. Comparing the historical description with results of his own technological examinations of extant leather paraments from Münster, Rheine and Velen-Ramsdorf, the author establishes a special foundation of the sheepskin as well as the use of wooden models with metal bands attached edgewise to create the patterns.
Although the leather chasubles were cheaper to produce than textile paraments of comparable appearance, it seems to have been particularly the greater durability of the material that was appreciated by those who commissioned it.
 
  notes:
Fougeroux de Bondaroy, Auguste-Denis: Art de travailler les cuirs dorés ou argentés. Paris 1761.
There is a german translation by Johann Heinrich Gottlob von Justi: die Kunst das vergoldete und versilberte Leder zu verfertigen. In: Schauplatz der Künste und Handwerke, oder vollständige Beschreibung derselben, verfertigt oder gebilliget von denen Herren der Academie der Wissenschaft zu Paris. Bd. 2, Leipzig und Königsberg 1763, S. 317-368.

see also: exhibition catalogue: Die Kreuzherren in Bentlage. Das Kloster in der Geschichte der Stadt Rheine. Kloster/Schloss Bentlage, Rheine 1988
 
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