Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1905-05-31
A RI OFGOLD BEATING
ONE OF THE OLDEST HAMolcRAFTs
IN THE WORLD.

Tie Wny 4. Little Square of the Yci-
low Metal Is Expanded Into n
Large and Almost Transparent
I.eai ~ the Artisans hammers.
The art OF the gold beater is one of |
the oldest handicrafts in the world |
aud among those which have changed |
least Much of the decoration of Solo
non's temple is believed to have been
covered with gold leaf, hammered to
tie requisite thinness by hand, as it |
. today.
'ihe gold heater receives his material
4rt in the form of the sixty penny
weight ingot in which it is cast, but
IN tie form of Il ribbon about an inch
wide and twentyfour feet long.
This ribbon is first cut into 200
fduares ana placed in the .cutch,"
which is pile of square pieces of
peculiar paper, part animal and part
vegetable in composition, the prcpara-
ton of which is 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 cutch rests upon a
granite block which is supported by
n heavy wooden post.
Under the heavy, measured blows of
the hammer the sheets of gold begin
to stretch or expand until in half or
three-quarters of an hour they have
reached the edges of the cutch. 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," Il collection
of 500 pieces of skin, four inches
square, made from the intestines of
cattle. AS in the cutch, 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
hammer weighing from eight to ten
pounds, now follows. This takes about
an hour, during which the sheets of
gold are all the time expanding.
| The last stage is the "mold,' which,
| like the cutch 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 beater's
skin. The preparation of this is je IL
| pusly 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 it will stand con-
tinuous beating without breaking, it
will tear like 4 sheet of thin paper.
The making of Il 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
me second beating the workman takes
/ from the shoder single leaf Of gold at
time, handling 1t with bamboo pinch
ers and, when necessary, smoothing
| it with rabbits foot. With the strip
of bamboo lie cuts each sheet into quar-
ters again, so that the original 200
have now become 5000. One shoder,
therefore, contains more than enough
gold to fill three molds.
The final beating in the mold is done
with n seven pound hammer and re-
quires from. three to four hours. By
this time the gold leaf should have ex-
panded again to the edge of the skins
and should be of the requisite thinness,
which is determined by holding 1t up
to the light. If 1t transmits green rays
1t is done and will measure about one
Northumberland eighty -thousandth Of
an inch in thickness.
The hammers used in beating gold
are Slightly convex on the face. The
art of the workman consists in so strik-
ing that the gold will always be thin
nest in the center. He must pound
with evenncss all over the square III
order that the sheets of gold may ex-
pand without losing their form, but at
the same time lie must keep the thick
est part near the edges, SO that when
: the sheets are finally trimmed to size
the thicker portions may fall in the
waste, to be recast. No machinery has
ever been devised which will do this
successfully.
) The tools of the craft are interesting
and peculiar. The rabbits foot is ey
ceedingly soft and just oily enough tc
prevent the gold from sticking, ans
/ the bamboo pliers and cutting slips
are the only things with which it i.
possible to do this delicate work. The
gold does not adhere to the fibers o.
the reed as it does to steel.
> The gold beater performs all hi:
; work standing. The use Of the heav.
u hammers in such continuous poundin,
) would. one would think, impose an al
g most intolerable strain upon the hand
1 and arms. The men say, however
e that their arms never ache. The onl.
v place where .'it catches them" is fl
&c the bend Of the knee.
:, The lack of strain upon the arms l
r accounted for by the fact that tn
u ham.ner rebounds. 1t is an astOnisf
ing but by no means n rare thing to Sc
e Il gold beater change hands while til
II hammer is in the air and without los
r ing IL stroke.-Edward Williston Trent
k in Youths Companion.
y. Rice M u SoporiRc.
'r "If people would eat plenty of rit
k they would not need drugs to maI
m them Sleep" said New York dru