Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1905-07-23
ART QEG0ID BEATING.
DNEs6F The OLDEST AANDIcRAFTs
" IN THE WORLD.

Large and Almost Transparent
LeN'Ss sAs sAs..seas Hammers so4e,aa
Tho tart of the gold beaten Is one of
the Oldest hnndicrafts in the world
and 1lhong those which have changed
leastSfAIuch OF the decoration Of Solo
mon'sstemple is believed to have been
covered with gold leaf. hammered to
the REQUISITE thifiness by hand, as it
is toahy.
TheHold bcater receives his material
not III tho form OF the sixty penny
weight ingot in which 1t is cast, but
in tllTgorm Of IL ribbon about IN inch
wide and twenty four feet long.
This; ribbon is first cut into 200
s1uargs and placed in the "cutch,"
which7as u pile of square pieces of a
peculiar paper. part animal and part
vegetable in composition, the prepura-
ton of which is secret The best
cutciisY are made in London. \ square
of goD is"Iplaced between each two
leav4$ and the whole mass IS ready
for the first beating.
This in done with an iron hammer
wcigRjpg y,trom twelve to seventeen
pounls, while the clutch rests upon IL
granitlf hlock which is supported by
hclfS wooden post
Under the heavy, measured blows Of
the hammer the sheets Of gold begin
to stretch or expand until in half or
threcsdharters- of IN hour they have
reached the edges Of the clutch. They
are then removed and with thin
strip of bamboo are cut into quarters,
80 TINT the 200 pieces become 500
Next.Gpmes the "shodcr," collection
OF w pieces of skin. four inches
sQuaiNi nude from the intcstincs Of
cattlej.r As$9iir :tlie cutcll, each piece
of gold ii placed between two lenvcs
of skin, and bands OF parchment or
velluhl!ar6' slipped over the whole pile
TO keep it together.
Another. heating, this time with n
hanipfr weighing from eight to ten
pounds; now follows. This takes about
an hour, during which the sheets Of
gold are oil 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 beater's
skin. Nfhe preparation of this is q jeal-
ouslyNfshattfed trade secret.
TheSakin. like that in the shoder, is
made from the intcstines of the OK. 1t
is translucent and not unlike rawhide
in col6t. Although 1t will stand con-
tlnuous beating without breaking, 1t
will tear like sheet of thin paper.
Tho mHkfnp ~ n CT,
the ihtestlnes OF 600 bullocks Between
each two beatings the skin Is rubbed
with baked and pulverlzed gypsum
a hield contains 1000 sheets. After
the stasond beating the workman takes
fromshe shotler single leaf OF gold ut
a timeu handling 1t with bamboo pinch
ers and, when necessary, smoothing
1t with rabbits foot With the strip
OF bamboo lie cuts euch sheet into quar-
ters :AgaiA, -Asqi that the original 200
haveS Now ,NecBktfs.sOo One shoder,
therefore, contains more than enough
gold to. I'LL three molds.
Thee Snal beating In the mold Is done
with ~ seven pound hammer and re-
quiresSft0m three to four hours. BY
this timeefiia gold leaf should have ex-
banded again to the edge Of the skins
and should be Of tho requisite thlnness,
which Is determined by holding 1t up
to the light. IL 1t transmits green rays
1t Is done and viii measure about one
Northumberland eighty thousandth of
an inch In thickness.
The hammers used in beating gold
are slightly ieonvex on the face The
art Of the workman consists In SO strik-
ing that the gold will always be thin
nest III the center He must pound
withi evenness oil over the square in
order that the sheets of gold may OK.
pandi without losing their form, but ut
the same time he 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 tho craft are interesting
and peculiar. The rabbits foot is ex-
ceedingly 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.rd6; ahis delicate work. The
gold docs not adhere to the fibers of
the iced as 1t does to steel. Y;
The gold bcater performs oil his
work standing. The use Of the heavy
hammers In such. continuous pounding
would, one would think, impose an al
most IntolGrGBle strain upon the hands
and arms. The men say, however,
that their arms never ache. The only
place where ut catches them" is in
the bend of the knee.
The$Hck Of strain upon tho arms is
accounted for by the fact TINT the
hammer rebounds. 1t Is an astonish-
ing but by no means rare thing to SEQ
goidbcater change hands while the