The Rice belt journal. (Welsh, Calcasieu Parish, La.) 1900-19??, 1905-04-21
GOLD LEAF BEATING
One OF the Worlds Oldest and Least
MOdernizcd Hantlicrafts.

cred with Sold-leaf. hammered to Tho
~ requisite thinncss by hand. as il is TO-
l. day.
Ihe S0ld-boater receives his material
not in the form of the Sixty-penny
weight ingOt in which il is cast, but
- III the form of ribbon about an inch
y, wide and tWenty-fOur feet long.
- This ribbon is first cut into oO0
i squares and placed in the .cutch -
which is Il pile Of square pieces of n
peculiar paper, part animal and part
= vegetable in composition, the prepara.
: tlon OF which is Il secret. The hest
clutches are made in London. A square
OF gold is placed between each two
leaves, and the whole mass is ready
for the first beating.
This is done with an iron hammer
weighing from twelve to seventeen
pounds, while the cutch rests upon a
granite block, which is supported by
a heavy wooden post.
Under the heavy, measured blows of
'he hammer the sheets Of gold begin
to stretch or expand until, in half or
three-quartcrs OF an hour, they have
reached the edges of the clutch. Tloy
are then removed, and with q thin
strip OF bamboo are cut into quarters.
so that the 200 pieces become 500.
Next comes the "ShOder," collection
OF 500 pieces Of skin, four inches
square, made from the mtcstines of
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 4
hammer weighing from eight to ten
pounds, now follows. This takes about
an hour, during which the sheets of
gold are Ill the time expanding.
The last stage is the ''mold," which.
like the Clutch and The Sholer. is COM
posed of alternate leaves Of cold and
skin; but the mold is about five inches
square, and made up Of @Old-heator's
skin. The preparation Of this is a
jealousy guarded secret. -"~.
The skin, like that in the ShOder. is !
made from the inteStinps 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 sheet of thin paper. The
making of single mold requires the
lntestineS Of 800 bulOcks. Between
each two beatingS the skin is rubbed
with baked and pulveriZed gypsum.
n mold contains 100 sheets. After
the second beating the workman takes
from the ShOder single leaf of gold
at time, handling it with bamboo
pincers, and when necessary smoothing
1t With rabbits foot. With the strip
Of bamboo he cuts each sheet into
quarters so that the original 200 have
now become 5000. One shoder, there
fore. contains more than enough gold
TO MI three mOlds. .,ea.4 >sss1.~,
The final beating, in the mold. is
done with seven-pOund hammer, and
requires from three to four hours. BY
this time the gold leaf should have eX-
banded again to the edge Of the skins,
md should be of the requisite thin
less, which is determined by holding
t up to the light. If it transmits green
avs it is done, and will measure
bout one northumberland eighty-thou. {
andths of an inch in thickness. !
The hammers used i'll beating gold i
re slightly convex on The face. The
TT of the workman consists in 50 stik-
ne that the gold will always be thin
lest in the centre. He must pound
With evenness all over the square, in
rider that the sheets of gold may eX-
and without losing their form; but
t the same time he must keep the
llckeSt part near the edges, so that
'hen the sheets are finally trimmed to
ize, the thicker portions may fall in
he waste, to be recast. No machinery !;
as ever been devised which will do q
MS successfully. a
The tools Of the craft are interesting b
nd peculialh The rabbits foot is ex- a
eedinsly solt and just oily enough to o
revent the 1. old from sticking, and the W
ambo0 pliers and cutting slips are the p;
My things with which it is possible to HI
this delicate work. The gold does OF
Of adhere to the fbers of the reed as sc
does to steel. III
The gOld-beater performs all his work W
anding. The use of the heavy ham,
ers in such continuous pounding IN
ould, one would think, impose an al p
ost intolerable strain upon the hands
Id arms. The men say however, tnat w
cir arms never ache. The only place III
here at catches them" is in the bend If
the knee. o.
The lack Of strain upon the arms IS m
counted for by the fact that the ham TO
et rebounds. It is an astonishing oh
it by no means a rare thing to see ~,
gOld-beater change hands while the IN
MINER is in the air, without losing st.
'oke.-Edward Williston Frentz, in WI
e Youths Companion. tw
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Charge of Doubtful Judge. all