Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1905-09-28
ART OF GOLD BEATING
ONE OF THE OLDEST HANDlCRAFTS
IN THE WORLD.


The Way Little square of the Hel-
low Metal Is Expanded Into
Large and Almost Transparent
Leaf by the Artisans Hammers.
The art Of the gold beater is one of
the oldest handicrafts I'm the world
and among those which have changed
least. Much Of the decoration of Solo
mons temple is believed to pave been
covered with gold leaf haThmcred to
the requisite thinness by hand, as 1t
IS today.
The gold beater receives his material
not in the form of the sixty penny
weight ingOt in which 1t is cast, but
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 'cutch,'
which is pile OF square pieces of n
peculiar paper, part animal and part
vegetable in composition, the prcpara-
ton Of which IS a secret The best
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 In done with an iron hammer
weighing from twelve to seventeen
pounds while the cutch rests upon a
granite block which IS supported by
q heavy wooden post
Under the heavy, measured blows CT
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 c1tch. They
are then removed and with a thin
strip of bamboo are cut into quarters,
so that the 200 pieces become 800.
Next comes the "shoder," n collection
of 800 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
yellum are slipped over the whole pile
to keep 1t together.
Another beating, this time with o
hammer weighing from eight to tea
pounds, now follows This takes about
gold are all the time expanding.
The last stage IS the mold" which,
Ike 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 jeal-
ously guarded trade secret
81,
made from the !nteStines of the OK. 1t
Is translucent and not unlike rawhide
In color. Although II will stand con-
tinuous beating without breaking, IL
will tear like n 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 loo sheets. After
the second beating the workman takes
from the shoder a single leaf Of gold at
a time, handling it with bamboo pinch
ers and, when necessary. smoothing
ii with a rabbits foot. With the strip
Of bamboo he cuts each sheet into quar-.
tcrs 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 seven pound hammer and re-
quircs from three to four hours. BY
this time the gold leaf should have eX-
pandcd again to the edge of the skins
and should be Of the requisite thinness,
which Is determined by holding 1t MP
to the light If IL transmits green rays
II is done and will measure about one
Observation-Disclosures d-ciGhty-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 strk-
Ing that the gold viii always be thin
nest In the center He must pound
with evcnncSS all over the square In
order that the sheets of gold may ex-
pand without losing their form, but at
the same time he must keep the thick
est part near the edges. 50 that wher
the sheets are 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 eX.
ccedlngIy- sort ana Just oIIy enough u
prevent the gold from sticking. and
the bamboo pliers and cutting slips
are the only things with which it is
possible to d. this delicate work The
gold does not adhere T. the fibcrS Of
the reed as il does to steel
The gold bcatcr performs al his
work standing Tho use Of the heavy
hammers in such continuous pounding
would, one would think. impose an al
most intolcrable strain upon the hands
and arms. The men say. however,
that their arms never ache. The only
place where ''it catches them" is In
the bend Of the knee.
The lack Of strain upon the arms is
accounted for by the fact that the
hammer rebounds. 1t is an astonish.
Ing but by no means rare thing 10 see
a gold bcater change hands while the
hammer is IN the air and without los
ing n stroke E!wa"' ",t.Iist1u Trent2
IA Youths Companion.
lucky Dog.
MY luck IS the bcs, any man ever
had"
The deuce it isr'
Yes sir \ girl refused me yester.
day, and | sed0by the morning paper
that her father has lost all his money"
Cincinnati Commercial Tribune