Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1905-04-08
ART OF GOLD BEATING
ONE OF THE OLDEST HAN0lcRAFTS
IN THE WORLD.
The Way a Little Square of the yell
low Metal Is Expanded Into
Large and Almost Transparent
,.xhx the Artisans Hammers.

Tho Wav n Little Square of the yell
low Metal Is Expanded Into
Large and Almost Transparent
Leaf by the Artisans Hammers.
The art of the gold heater is one of
the Oldest handicrafts in the world
and among those which have changed
least. Much Of the decoration OF Solo,
mons temple is believed to have been
covered with gold leaf, hammered to
the requisite thinness by hand, as II
is today.
The gold beater receives his material
not In the form of the sixty penny
weight ingot in which 1t is cast, out
in the form Of a ribbon about an inch
wide and twenty-four feet long.
This ribbon is first cut into 200
squares and placed in the "eutch'
which is n pile of square pieces or
peculiar paper, part animal and part
vegetable in composition, the prepara-
ton of which is a secret The best
clutches are made In London. y square
of gold is placed between each TWO
leaves and the whole mass Is ready
for the first beating.
This in done with an iron hammer
weighing from twelve to seventeen
pounds, while the clutch rests upon
granite block which is supported by
q heavy wooden post.
Under the heavy, measured blows or
the hammer the sheets of gold begin
to stretch or expand until In half or
three-ouarters of an hour they have
reached the edges of the Clutch. They
are then removed and with thin
strip of bamboo are cut into quarters
so that the 200 pieces become 500.
Next comes the "shoder," a collection
Of 500 pieces Of skin, four inches
square. made from the intestines or
cattle. AS In the clutch, each piece
Of gold is placed between two leaves
of skin, and bands Of parchment or
vellum are slipped over the whole pile
to keep It together.
Another beating, this time with a
hammer weighing from eight to ten
pounds, now follows. This takes about
an hour, during which the sheets or
gold are all the time expanding
The last stage is the mold" which,
like the clutch and the shoder, is COM
posed Of alternate leaves Of gold and
skin. but the mold is about FIVE inches
square and made up Of gold beaters
skin. The preparation Of this is jeal-
ously guarded trade secret.
The skin, like that In the shoder, Is
made from the intestines Of the OK. 1t
is translucent and not unlike rawhide
In color. Although 1t will stand con-
tinuous beating without breaking, 1t
will tear like a sheet Of thin paper.
The making Of single mold requires
the intestines Of 500 bullocks. Between
each two beatings the skin Is rubbed
with baked and pulverized gypsum.
A mold contains 1000 sheets. After
the second beating the workman takes
from the shoder single leaf of gold al
q time. handling 1t with bamboo pinch
ers and. when necessary, smoothing
II with rabbits foot. With the strip
of bamboo he cuts each sheet into quar-
ters again. so that the original 2OC
have now become 1920. One shoder
therefore, contains more than enough
gold to fill three molds.
The final beating in the mold Is done
with a seven pound hammer and re
ouires from three to four hours. BY
this time the gold leaf should have ex
banded again to the edge Of the skins
and should be Of the requisite thinness
which Is determined by holding 1t uT
TO the light. If 1t transmits green rays
It is done and will measure about one
two-hundred-an d-eighty-thOusandth o.
an inch In thickness.
The hammers used In beating golC
are slightly convex on the face. Th'
art Of the workman consists in so strik
ing that the gold will always be thin
nest In the center. He must poun(
with evenness all over the square IL
order that the sheets of gold may eX
pand without losing their form, but
the same time he must keep the thick
est part near the edges, so that whel
the sheets are finally trimmed to siz'
the thicker portions may fall In thu
waste, to be recast. No machinery ha
ever been devised which will do thi
successfully.
The tools Of the craft are interesting
and peculiar. The rabbits foot IS eX
ceedingly soft and just oily enough t
prevent the gold from sticking, an
the bamboo pliers and cutting slip
are the only things with which 1t
possible to do this delicate work. III
gold does not adhere to the fibers o
the reed as 1t does to steel.
The gold beater performs all hi
work standing. The use Of the heav
hammers in such continuous poundin
would. one would think, impose an a
most intolerable strain upon the hand
and arms. The men say, however
that their arms never ache. The onl
place where ut catches them" is
the bend Of the knee.
The lack Of strain upon the arms
accounted for by the fact that I'll
hammer rebounds. 1t is an astonisl
ing but by no means rare thing to sc
q gold beater change hands while IL
hammer is in the air and without 10
ing a stroke.-Edward Williston Trent
IN Youths Companion.
Hair Color.