12th Century Style Wedding Box, Part V; The Hardware and Finish

 This will be the end of blogging about the wedding box. It was such a major project that I wanted to make several posts about it. Normally, such projects take months or years to complete, so there is plenty of time to make several updates on the progress. In the case with this one, though, it was a commission which had to be completed in less than three months, so there was definitely no extra time for blogging.

Custom made hinge ready to be drilled and the installed

Once the basic concept of the layout and design of the box had been solidified in my mind and I commenced its construction, the concept of hardware began to scratch the back of my mind. Anyone who has tried making medieval furniture will know that there is not much suitable hardware that one can simply order from a catalogue, and even less (actually none that I know of) if you want 12th century style hardware.

As I worked on making the box, I began to realise that if I wanted it to look "right" I would have to make something myself; but how? As the days went by, I slowly began to develop a plan, and once that plan was fully formed, I got right into executing it, right in the middle of the bone carving stage.

Design for an 11th or 12th century box hinge

I have a friend about an hour away, who has a window and door restoration business. Often, he is not able to find hardware that he needs, so he and a couple of his guys have worked together to teach themselves how to do metal casting. I asked him if he would be willing to make something for me if I provided him with sample parts. He gave me a price he said he could do it for, and I got to work.

Once I had a means to my end, it was time to make some parts. I thought about different materials to use, but ultimately decided on making them out of wood. (walnut, to be specific) I then got some paper and a pencil and drew out what I had in mind, stuck the drawing to some timber and started in on it. It took me a bit more than a full day to make the hinge, the catch and a foot, but I had a head start on a foot because about ten years ago I tuned a 9th century style candle stick and cut away sections from the base, in order to carve three feet in the remaining portions. I saved those cut-offs because I thought that they might come in handy at some future date...

Pictures of the process of making the hinge
I cut the parts with a coping saw, then carved and filed
them to their final shape
The 'V' notch on the table was how I supported the work
whilst cutting it out.

I had hoped to be able to watch the process and even help with it, as it is something that I too have long wanted to learn about, but he  was not able to accommodate me the day I dropped off the parts so I saw nothing of it. Two or three weeks later, he met me at my place with some finished feet, a finished casting of the "Lovebirds" and blobs of brass (it was supposed to have been bronze, but something got lost in translation) which had the hinges hiding in them.

The hinges as they were delivered

After the hinges, it was on to a catch

My own invention, but in the spirit of the 
12th century. "Love birds" were a perfect motif 
for a wedding box

Lastly the feet. I started with a section of a turning that I made 
in order to make some 9th century feet for a candle-stick.

The cutting out and polishing of the parts was interesting and a bit of a challenge, but I am handy with more than just a wood saw, so metal is just another material to be cut as needed. Once they were sawn out and the backs cut and filed down, they had to be filed and then polished on a buffing wheel.

I was so pleased with the results and happy that I took the time to do them,; they really added a nice level of authenticity to the entire project.

The case built to conceal the wedding box 
for the delivery.

Since the client had no clue of what I was actually making, and never saw anything of it until the project was finished and delivered, I decided to have a little fun. I built another box of cherry which was large enough to put the bone and intarsia box inside. (It would also serve as a receptacle for the cards that would be given to the newlyweds at the reception). Thus as was my intention, all the client had to say when I delivered the box two days before the wedding was that it was very nice. When they opened it, however the plan proved to have been a great idea. I have never seen any client so astonished and beside themselves for words over anything that I have made. The best comment of all came from the soon-to-be groom who said "people just don't make stuff like this anymore! This belongs in a museum."

Mission accomplished!

Completed 12th century style wedding box with custom
made cast brass hardware ; front and back

12th Century Style Bone Box - Part IIII; The lid and interior

As promised, this post is about the making of the lid. There will be one more post to finish this, which will cover the hardware and finishing up of the project.

Intarsia is finished. At this point, no bone had yet 
been stuck on, save for the centre front.

For the outside of the lid, it was carry on with what was going on for the sides, bone border surrounding intarsia veneers. I did use a different pattern for the top, which was again parts left from another project  done some years earlier. This pattern was larger than what is on the sides, but it still worked and looked good. I have seen a couple medieval intarsia pieces with similar designs, so it is also "period correct". 

After gluing the intarsia

My cutting set-up. This is a saw I made many years
ago the glued-on miter cut piece is a guide.

Gluing the string border.

Even though the previous post shows the bone on the sides, I actually did not start carving the bone until the lid has been veneered as well. Once all the intarsia was finished, I did get to work on the bone, but the stuff for the lid was done once the front and ends of the box was finished. The bone for the back was the very last that was finished and it had a different pattern to it. I will be showing that in my next (and last) post about this box.

I had toyed with the idea of using holly as a substitute for the border of the entire box; I even went so far as cutting up enough strips of it to do the whole project. However, after I carved a bit of the holly and made a comparison with the bone I decided that I definitely liked the bone more, so I stuck with that. For the inside of the lid, however, the holly seemed like a good candidate to save my having to find a bunch more bones, since I had depleted the entire stock at the pet shop.

The plates ready for application

The nails are both functional and decorative

Close-up detail

Even if the holly was not as good for the carving, it was fine for the less complicated inside that I wanted to use. Somewhere I once saw a medieval box that was covered in plates of bone, nailed on with lots of gold pins in a geometric pattern. The memory of this was my inspiration for doing the inside lining of the lid. My pattern for the nails was mainly dictated by the size and shape of the plates of holly. Before applying them, I used wood bleach to bleach them whiter than their natural colour, even though it is already fairly white. With the application of the bleach, the colour is as bright as the bone. 

A lucky find at a fabric shop. 

I had no idea what I would do for the inside of the box, In the back of my mind, as I worked, were rather abstract ideas of block printed textile patterns or some white fabric painted to look like damask. One day I was in a fabric shop and saw a pattern that I realised would work for my project - except the only colour it was available in, was blue and white. I realised, however, that I could probably dye it and make a nicer colour, so I bought a strip of it, put some dye in a jar added the fabric, shook it up for a while, and then removed it. Once it was dry, it was perfect.

Dying the fabric. and the way it looked when still wet

The finished interior

Another nice thing about this piece of cloth, though I did not know it at the time of purchase, was that the pattern was perfect to fit the box. the sides were one square high, the width was two. and the length was three, One cannot get much more "lucky" than that.

To apply the fabric, I used a wheat glue, which is made by cooking a bit of flour and water, with a pinch of salt to prevent moulding before it dries.

Lots of Gold

There was a recent extensive restoration project at the Mellon Auditorium, in Washington DC. Several companies and contractors each got a slice of the pie, and I got a couple crumbs from one of those companies for doing the gilding of the doors in the main hall.

 

 

The first finished door leaf

.

 

There were 11 sets of double doors and two pair of doors with lion's head carvings either side of the stage, in the front of the auditorium. The company that commissioned me to do the gilding was responsible for the restoration of those doors and the framework surrounding them.

One of four "lion doors" these were my favourite

"Close up" of the lion. Very nicely carved

All the doors had been removed and were restored in their facility, which made it much more convenient for gilding than if they had to be done in place, however, the frames and transoms were not easily removed, so they had to remain in situ. Thus, after completing the doors, I had to work at the auditorium for a couple weeks, gilding those parts. 

Gilding a transom. Thank you to Christian for the photo

It was a big project, but I thoroughly enjoyed it, and was happy to have a job doing so much gilding, since I love working with gold leaf. In the end, the project turned up well and everyone was very happy with all of the work done. The auditorium is now finished and dazzling again, as when it was newly built, nearly one hundred years ago.

A finished pair installed

Each door leaf is over three metres tall and 75mm thick. They are constructed of oak and are so heavy that it requires two men to carry a single leaf. Even so, when one is in the auditorium, they actually appear tiny and almost insignificant.

View from the balcony looking towards the stage

Videre Scire

A Nice Commission

Last summer, I got a commission from St Dominic's Church in Washington DC, to carve the Four Evangelist symbols for the reredos in the church. Of course I was delighted, since this is "right up my alley", when it comes to medieval art. This gave me an opportunity to make something in the medieval style which as regular followers will know, is my true passion. As a starting point, I chose an 11th century image for St Mark, the lion, which is part of a silver and jeweled book cover. I then designed the other three characters to follow the same format, relying on other 10th and 11th century work to guide me. Father Schommer, of the church, allowed me complete freedom in my design. Our only discussion was that they would be gilded and have the backgrounds painted in. Of course, the size was determined by the placement of the roundels.

What follows are some pictures of the project as it unfolded.

I started with St Mark, as I had an image from a 11thc book cover

 

 

 The lion is also my sign, so I have a special affinity towards it

Nearly finished

The source of inspiration

One down, three to go.

St Luke follows Marc in the order

The carving well under way

And finished

Next was St John

This was my primary source of inspiration 10thc Ivory

 

One challenge to the design for St John was following the same format with one appendage holding the end of the scroll and another holding down the other end, but leaving some space. Anatomically, it did not work for his other foot to be in a similar position to what Mark and Luke had, so I came up with the idea of the wing tip holding down the other end; it works.

St Mathew, working out the design

 

 

The design for Mathew held even more challenges. I had thought that I would just follow another St Mathew that I had carved many years ago, but that did not work because his hands could not hold the scroll.

 

St Mathew and his symbol, Unfinished carving from 1998

 

 

I wanted to have him holding the scroll stretched out between his hands, but that left his centre open and did not work, also it did not have the feel of 10th or 11th century art to it. I finally thought of having one hand hold one end, and the other end "held" in his wing. It works, so I went with it.

 

 

this one needed a new plank of timber, as the other one was full

finished carving and ready for cutting out

the other three, all together and ready to cut out as well

After cutting them all out, which I never took a picture of, the next step was to prepare them all for gilding. This is done with several layers of gesso and red bole

 

Scraping the bole on St Johan

 

 

To give the carvings more of an authentic medieval look, I used a scraper and scraped the bole down, as opposed to sanding it. The results were much better even if it took much longer to do.

 

 

All ready for gilding

Genuine 23 karat "red gold" was used for the gilding.

Gilded, painted, lettered and ready to go

So small one can hardly see them, but they add a nice touch

Close-up of the left side

Close-up of the right side

Videre Scire