Wax seals

Kirsten Elliott <loopyla8 [at] yahoo__co__uk> writes

>I am working on a printed document from England in 1786 which has a
>red wax seal applied to one corner. Does anybody know what type or
>nature of red pigments may have been used in wax seals around this
>date? From the literature I have found it seems that it could be a
>beeswax seal or a mixture of beeswax and mineral wax, is this
>correct?

There are 11 different recipes for seals from the 18th century in
Johann Kunkel (Kunckel). Ars vitraria experimentalis oder
vollkommene Glasmacher-Kunst, 1756, pp. 367-369. The different
"composita" are:  shellac (= gummi lacca), Venetian turpentine,
gummi animi, gummi gutte, mastic, sandarac, borax, cinnabar,
verdigris and turpentine. So no wax is being mentioned at this time.
Unfortunately I only know this edition.

Kunkel's book was first released in Franckfurt and Leipzig  1689
(3th edition from 1744) and it is a German translation of
Christopher Merret's translation of Antonio Neri's book:

    Antonio Neri, L'Arte vetraria distinta in libri sette; nei quali
    si scoprono meravigliosi effetti e si insegnano segreti
    bellissimi del vetro nel fuoco, e altre cose curiose". L'arte
    vetraria, Firenze 1612. Reprinted in 1980 by Il Polifilo,
    Milano.  2nd edition, published variously in 1661, 1663, 1678,
    Firenze.  Translated in 1662 from Italian by Christopher Merret
    as The art of glass, wherein are shown the wayes to make and
    colour glass, pastes, enamels, lakes ..., A. W. for Octavian
    Pulleyn, London. Translated by Christopher Merrett, edited by
    Sir Thomas Phillips, published in 1826 as Neri's Art of Glass,
    privately printed by Typis Media-Montanis [Middle Hill],
    England. Original version reprinted in 1980 by Il Polifilo,
    Milano.

Ivan Bentchev
Rheinisches Amt fur Denkmalpflege
Abtei Brauweiler
Pulheim-Brauweiler
Germany


                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 15:54
                 Distributed: Tuesday, February 5, 2002
                       Message Id: cdl-15-54-005
                                  ***