Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1905-07-02
ART OF GOLD BEATING
ONE OF THE OLDEST HANDlcRAFTs
IN THE WoRLD. q s,;5

= Inc art of the gold beatcr is ono Of
gtho oldest handlcrarts 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
inc requisite thinncss by hand, as 1t
is today.
). The gold bcntcr receives his material
not In the form Of the sixty penny
weight inSOt in which it is cast, but
III the form Of Il ribbon about an inch
willie anu twenty-four feet long.
This. ribbon is first cut into 200
squares and placed in the "cutcl,"
which is Il pile of square pieces Of
peculiar paper, part animal and part
vegetable in composition, the prcpara-
ton OF which is Il secret The best
clutches are made In London. y square
or 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 cutcl rests upon
granite block which Is supported by
heavy wooden post.
Under the heavy, measured blows Of
the hammer the sheets Of gold begin
to stretch or expand until In half or
threc-qnartcrs 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 ''sllodcr," n collection
or 500 pieces Of skin, four inches
square, made from tho intcstines of
cattle. AS i'll the cutch. each piece
Epf gold is placed between two leaves
of skin, and hands Of parchment or
vellum arc slipped over the whole pile
to keep it together.
Another heating. this time with n
hammer weighing from eight to ten
pounds, now follows. This takes about
an hour during which the sheets of
gold arc all the time expanding.
The last stage Is the "moltl,'' which,
like the clutch and the slloder is COM
posed of alternate leaves Of gold aud
Skin, but the mold is about five inches
square and made up of gold bcaters
skin. The preparation of this Is n jcal-
ously guarded trade secret.
l. %Thc1 slSln. +1lkc that III the slloder, IS
made from the intcstincs OF the OK 1t
Is translucent and not unlike rawlilc
In color. Although it will stand con-
sunuous beating without breaking, it.
will tear like Il sheet of thin paper
The making of single mold requires
stile intcstincs of 800 bullocks. Between
encl two hcatings the skin is rubbed
with baked and pulvcrizcd gypsum,
= ~ mold contains 1000 sheets. After
StlfeEscoond beating the workman takes
from the shodcr Il single leaf of gold at
time. handling 1t with bamboo pinch
crS and. when necessary, smoothing
1t with rabbits foot. With the strip
of bnmhoo lie cuts each sheet into quar-
ters%again, so that the original 900
;have now become 5000. One shodcr,
therefore, contains more than enough
gold to fill three molds.
The final beating in the mold Is done
with seven pound hammer and re-
quircs from three to four hours. Nv
this time the gold lcnf should have cx-
banded again to the edge of the skins
and should be OF the requisite thinncss
which Is determined by holding 1t up
to tho light. If it transmits grccn rays
it Is done and will measure about one
observation-disclosures eighty thousandth of
an Inch In thickness.
The hammers used In beating gold
are slightly convex on the face. Tho
art ofthc workman consists I'm SO s,Yil,
Ing that the gold will always be thin
NEST In the center. He must pound
with cvenncss all over the square In
order that the sheets of gold may OK.
pand without losing their form, but Mt
the same time he must keep the thick
est part near the edges. so that when
the sheets nrc finally trimmed to size
the thicker portions may fall In the
waste. TO be rccast No machinery has
ever been devised which will do this
successfully.
The tools of the craft are interesting
and peculiar. The rabbits foot is OK
ccc;lingly soft and Just oily enough to
prevent the gold from sticking, and
the bamboo pliers and cutting slips
are the only things with which it is
possible to do this delicate work. Tho
gold does not adhere to the fbers of
the reed rs 1t docs to steel.
The gold bcatcr performs all his
work standing. The use of the heavy
hammers in such continuous pounding
would, one would think, impose I'm sal
most intolcrablc strain upon the hands
and arms. The, men say, however,
Tint their arms never ache The only
place where at catches them" is in,
the bend of The knee! nv t'!
The lack Of strain upon the nrms is
accounted for by the fnct that the
hammer rebounds 1t is an astonish-
ing but by no means rare thing to SEQ
gold beaten change hands while the
hammer IS IN tile mir and without los
ing q Edward Williston Trentz