Practices, recipes and supply of a late medieval brass foundry: The refractory ceramics and the metals of an early 15th century AD metallurgical workshop in Brussels

Saussus, Lise; Goemaere, Eric; Thomas, Nicolas; Leduc, Thierry; Goovaerts, Thomas; Fourny, Michel

doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2022.103358

Cited by 2 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…Brass has a colour close to that of gold, which appears to be highly prized. The same observation can be made for small dress accessories [29,30]. It is also likely that the golden colour of the tableware, together with the everyday pewter tableware with its silver colour, contributed to an aesthetic of the table aimed at imitating precious metals, and by projection, reproducing the way of life of the wealthier social groups.…”

Section: Constrained Choicesmentioning

confidence: 64%

“…Contributions have focused on the alloys of High or Late Medieval objects in England [9][10][11][12][13][14] and Wales [15], Germany [16][17][18][19][20][21][22], and more recently in Al-Andalus [23]. For the area between the Meuse and the Loire, there are still too few published studies devoted to the analysis of metal composition, with only rare papers on ecclesiastical items [22,24], or specific objects: [25] a fountain, [26] candlesticks, [27] seals, [28] canons, or workshop waste [29][30][31]. Over the last fifteen years, several Franco-Belgian research projects have focused on a significant number of objects dating between the 9th and 16th centuries, mainly from contexts of use, discovered during preventive excavations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Exactly how free? Constrained choices and product ranges of medieval copper-alloy objects found between the Meuse and Loire rivers (9th–16th centuries CE)

2023

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This contribution synthesises the PIXE and ICP-AES elemental analyses carried out on a large dataset, comprising of 300 copper-alloy objects dating mainly to the Late Middle Ages. The objects are drawn from heritage institutions and archaeological contexts in various regions between the Meuse and the Loire rivers (France and Belgium). This investigation focuses on the main elements that make up the alloys (Cu, Zn, Sn, Pb). Past studies have often defined the composition of an alloy as an intentional choice, however in this paper we aim to identify the constraints in alloy manufacture in a bid to understand the degree of freedom enjoyed by craftsmen during this period. We will also evaluate to what degree the constraints imposed by technique, economic conditions and social requirement, affected production in a complex multifactorial system. We have opted to define alloys by object type, functional area and social context, by chronology and product ranges. For cast table- and the kitchenware, we have observed that alloys and the objects are standardised on a trans-regional scale. Conversely, the hammered objects are produced with a greater freedom, leading to a new hypothesis regarding specific workshop practices. Finally, we will propose a predictive model for cast objects that we hope is better suited for the study of heritage objects, their materials and their production processes, to be verified in future studies. This approach emphasises the importance of considering everything that makes an object what it is: its function, status and place in the market, when researching heritage materials.

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Section: Constrained Choicesmentioning

confidence: 64%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exactly how free? Constrained choices and product ranges of medieval copper-alloy objects found between the Meuse and Loire rivers (9th–16th centuries CE)

2023

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“…Aerial view (A), and detail of an archaeological area of the excavation (B) Fig. 3 A selected group of metals analysed in this paper a certain threshold is usually based on arbitrary options made by each researcher [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]. In order to better sort the collected data, we adopted the alloy nomenclature used in the analysis of a fourteenth century AD collection of metals from a Parisian workshop [21], in turn adapted from Bayley [12].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Islamic copper-based metal artefacts from the Garb al-Andalus. A multidisciplinary approach on the Alcáçova of Mārtulah (Mértola, South of Portugal)

et al. 2022

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A multidisciplinary approach has been applied to investigate the production technology of a collection of copper-based artefacts found during archaeological excavation campaigns carried out in the Almohad neighbourhood of Mārtulah, the Islamic name of modern Mértola (South of Portugal). In stark contrast to other Islamic materials found in the same site such as common and finely decorated pottery, glass, and bone artefacts, metal objects have received less attention despite the high number of artefacts recovered.This study focuses on the chemical characterisation of 171 copper-based artefacts dating back to the 12th and the first half of the thirteenth centuries. The artefacts are daily use objects and consist of personal ornaments (earrings, rings, and casket ornaments), tools (spindles, spatulas, and oil lamp sticks) and artefacts with unknown functions. The analytical results by X-ray fluorescence Spectroscopy (XRF) provided information not only about technological issues but infer as well on the socio-economic implications of metal consumption in Islamic Mértola. Results revealed that metals were produced using a variety of Cu-based alloys, namely unalloyed copper, brasses (Cu + Zn), bronzes (Cu + Sn), and red brasses (Cu + Sn + Zn), with a variable concentration of Pb, without any apparent consistency, as a likely result of recurrent recycling and mixing scrap metals practices or use of mineral raw materials available locally.

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Practices, recipes and supply of a late medieval brass foundry: The refractory ceramics and the metals of an early 15th century AD metallurgical workshop in Brussels

Cited by 2 publications

References 5 publications

Exactly how free? Constrained choices and product ranges of medieval copper-alloy objects found between the Meuse and Loire rivers (9th–16th centuries CE)

Exactly how free? Constrained choices and product ranges of medieval copper-alloy objects found between the Meuse and Loire rivers (9th–16th centuries CE)

Islamic copper-based metal artefacts from the Garb al-Andalus. A multidisciplinary approach on the Alcáçova of Mārtulah (Mértola, South of Portugal)

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