[Regia-NA] [Regia] Horns in Period & Horn-Working

[rmhowe]

I saw an article on someone new to horn work making a sounding horn
and scaring the neighbors...and I thought I might give a few resources.
......
This may be one of those things that you might or might not see,
however, 
it is something I typed into my Horn notes, came from an offprint I
bought.:

Davies, R.: The Horn of Ulphus; Journal - Royal Archaeological Institute
26,
March 1869; pages 1-11 and frontispiece depicting the main carving of
the 
horn with an adjacent drawing of the horn carving if it were rolled out.
What is not depicted is the silver mounts applied at a later date.  
Length: 54 1/4", Diameter: of the Mouth: 5".
    "...the interesting relic preserved in the Treasury of York Minster
called the Horn of Ulphus...."  "The traditional story, as it has been 
current in the Church from an early period is to the effect that a large
portion of the terriitorial possessions of the See of York were bestowed
upon St. Peter, before the Norman Conquest, by a wealthy Anglo-Danish
chieftain called Ulf, the son of Torald, and that he used the horn which
bears his name as the symbol or instrument of endowment.....the
tradition
is set forth with much 	circumstantial precision. Ulf the benefactor of 
the church, is described as a distinguished earl and ruler in
Yorkshiire;
the horn is spoken of as the instrument of investiture, and its beauty 
is extolled; and the gifts of Ulf to the chruch are said to have been 
confirmed by King Edward the Confessor. " (Probably done shortly after 
the death of Cnut in 1036.)
    "The horn used as the symbol or instrument of transfer and
investiture
is said to have been the pious benefactor’s ordinary drinking vessel, 
and is preserved by them as one of the oldest and noblest of their title
deeds."
    "We are told that the warriors of the north, in ancient days, drank 
from horns. Drinking horns are mentioned in documents of the tenth and 
eleventh centuries, and were used as appendages of the banquetting table
until a much later period.
    It is well know that the practice of transferring land by the
delivery
of a horn or some other portable object prevailed in mediaeval times. 
A few examples are well authenticated, and the symbols used are yet in
existence, as the Pusey Horn, the Borstall Horn, and some others. 
(See a Dissertation upon the Tenure of Service of Cornage, by Francis 
M. Nichols, Esq. Archaeologia, Vol. XXXIX, p.349." 
     "The Cornu Ulphi differs from all the known examples of horns which
were used either as drinking vessels, or as symbols of the transfer of 
land, in the tenth and eleventh centuries.  It is not, strictly
speaking,
a horn. It is the tusk of an elephant, having its surface decorated with
sculptures, executed by no mean artist. The art of carving for
ornamental
purposes was practised at an early period by the Scandinavians, the 
material they chiefly used being the tooth of the walrus or sea-horse.
    In the reign of King Cnut, the game of chess, a favorite amusement
of the Danes, was brought into England, and the carved pieces of used 
in playing the game were composed of that substance.  In the former 
half of the eleventh century, Harold Hardraad, king of Norway, received
a present from Greenland, consisting of amongs other things, a set of 
chess-men, exquisitely carved. The connection of the Scandinavian 
countries with the far 	east is said to have been estabelished as early
as in the eighth century, and continues until after the conquest of 
England by the Normans. Ivory and other precious productions of Asia 
would be brought by the Arabian merchants who visited the coasts of 
the Baltic, and would thus become known to the Danes, and other nations
of the north. Hence it is not surprising that the tusk of the monster 
of the Asiatic jungle should be in the possession of a wealthy
Englishman
of Scandinavian descent living in the eleventh century, or that the best
attainable skill should be employed in the decoration of an object of 
so much rarity and value." "The peculiar character of the ornamentation
of the Cornu Ulphi is very remarkable,. A border about 4 inches broad, 
carved in low relief, encircles the upper or thickest end of the horn 
or tusk. The design represents four principal figures. Two of them 
facing each other, have between them a tree bearing palmated leaves, 
and fruit in the shape of a cone. One of these is a gryphon, a fabulous
creature, with the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle. 
The other monster has the body of a lion with the wings of an eagle 
and a head resembling that of a wolf or dog. The tails of both are borne
erect, and each terminates in the head of a wolf or dog. The other two
prinicipal figures have between them a smaller stem of the same 
description of tree or plant, with a single cone at the top. One of 
the animals is a lion of the ordinary type in the act of grasping and
devouring a fawn or young deer. The other represents a monster having 
the body and mane of a lion with the head of an antelope armed with 
one horn, and its tail terminating in the head of a wolf or dog. The 
heads and collared necks of three wolves or dogs are rising from the
base of the circle, and in the upper part is seen a similar animal in
the act of running.  
    A band beneath the principal circle, and the two narrower bands 
round the smaller parts of the horn are ornamented with scrolls 
composed of the stem, leaves and fruit of a plant or tree similar to
that represented in the principal design.  
   These carvings bear the impress of oriental art and feeling. The
gryphon and other monsters resemble both in form an mode of treatment,
the fabulous creatures represented on several of the Nineveh sculptures.
The conventional forms of the stem, leaves, and fruit tree which occurs
upon the Assyrian marbles. Perhaps it may be thought that the grotesque
caudal extremities of some of the monsters bespeak the taste of the 
Gothic rather than of the Oriental artist; and indeed, examples are 
not wanting of similar extravagancies in Scandinavian art. The 
introduction of so many repetitions of the animal resembling a wolf 
may be allusive to the name and owner of the horn. The English word
by which we now designate that ferocious quadruped has been transmitted
to us from prae-Norman times, and is found in most of the northern 
dialects with varying orthography. Danish, Ulf. Woulf; Swedish, Ulf;
Icelandic Ulfr; A-S. Wulf."
     ...........
Dalton, O.M.: The Clephane Horn, Archaeologia LXV, 1914, pp. 213-22
and plate XXIV which depicts all four sides of this highly carved
oliphant (elephant tusk blowing horn). Suspected to be Byzantine 
ca. 10 C but predating 1204 (fourth Crusade by which it is 
suspected to have come to the west). Depicts many figures in 
various byzantine dress, Charioteers with four horse chariots, 
five riders in a variety of hunting scenes including one either 
doing horse acrobatics or taking a fall, many figures on foot with
very short bare-legged tunics, looks like the tunics may come
in around the body much like shorts. Various animals - lions, 
griffons, hares, deer, dogs, horses. All four sides are photographed
and there is an expanded drawing of the whole design.
     ..........
Bruce-Mitford, R.L.S.: The Sutton Hoo Ship Burial, The rich tomb of a
seventh-century Anglo-Saxon king has yielded an archaeological treasure
that illuminates an obscure period in the history of the English people;
in Scientific American magazine, April 1951; Cover (in color of front of
shield), pages 24-30 with 12 b&w photographs of the excavation in
progress
and the individual treasures.  
   The Sutton Hoo purse-frame and fittings in close-up of solid gold 
inlaid with garnets and mosaic glass, the white surface beneath them 
is a reconstruction of the original bone or ivory.
   The Great Drinking Horn is the last picture, and was reconstructed on 
the basis of gilt bronze ornaments found in the burial. The size and 
shape of the horn indicates that it came from the virtually extinct 
aurochs, or European bison. These were estimated to hold six quarts of 
mead, or beer. 
     ..........
horn-msg (106K) 11/18/97    Working with horn. drinking horns.
horn-utn-care-msg  (6K)  2/ 1/00    Care of utensils made of horn.
"If you decide to make your own horn spoons, this file in the CRAFTS 
section might be a good place to start:
Horn-Spoons-art (9K) 1/5/00    "Making Horn Spoons" 
by Mistress Gunnora Hallakarva."
See Stefan's Florilegium files at: http://www.Florilegium.org/
     ..........
Bise, Gabriel after Phoebus, Gaston and Tallon J Peter (trans).:
ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPTS : MEDIEVAL HUNTING SCENES
("Le Livre de Chasse de Gaston Phoébus). ; Frieborg-Geneve, Editions 
Liber SA/Miller Graphics, 1978, First Edition., cloth, 108pp including
profuse color illustration from the 14th or 15th century French original
in the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris (considered the most beautiful of
the 37 to 44 illuminated manuscripts extant). Text in English. Text by
Gabriel Bise, after "The Hunting Book" by Gaston Phoebus, one of the 
great feudal lords of the 14th century. Translated by J. Peter Tallon.
While not drinking horns, it does depict numerous other blowing horns,
and hanging techniques.
     ..........
Cherry, J.: Symbolism and Survival: Medieval Horns of Tenure;
Antiquaries 
Journal, 1989, pp 11-18. Plate XVIII has the Savernake Horn, detail of 
the top band showing bishop, king and forester, and an impression of the 
seal of Sir Henry Sturmey, British Library XVIII, 189. Plate XIX has the
Boarstall Horn - 2 pictures. Plate XX has two pictures of the Pusey Horn
(with feet and animal head end-cap). Plate XXI has the Tutbury Horn with
belt and hanger attachments, detail of central ornamental link on
Baldric,
and the Kavanagh Horn with feet. Plates XXII-III have the Seymour 
Geneology manuscript with depicted horns. Plate XXIV has the Horn of 
Ulph with hanging chain and an Engraving of the Savernake Horn with 
views of wrap-around fittings and baldric. Also discusses other horns, 
page and a half bibliography.
     ..........
Graham-Campbell, James: The 9th-Century Anglo-Saxon Horn-mount from 
Burghead, Morayshire, Scotland. Medieval Archaeology 17, 1973. 
pp. 43-50 and plate XV. Cross sections and design of the horn mouth
mount.
     ...........
Grinder-Hansen, Poul : Margrete I, Regent of the North, The Kalmar Union 
600 Years; Nordisk Ministerrad, NationalMuseet, The National Museum of 
Denmark and the authors, Copenhagen, 1997, Skogs Boktryckeri AB, 
Trelleborg, Sweden, 467 Pages, Paperback, ISBN 8789384520. 
Exhibition Catalogue. 
   Drinking Horns: "Drinking Horn (brown) from the beginning of the 
14th century, made of a cow horn from southern Europe, with gilded 
silver fittings. The lip is faced with the coats-of-arms of four
Norwegian
and three Swedish noble families as well as the Royal Arms of Norway.  
    "Drinking horn which belonged to the representative of the Norwegian 
King in Iceland in the 14th century" (cat. 248) large color picture of
a very fancy brown horn. pp.62 & 378. "Drinking horn, "Ivar Holm’s horn"
     ..........
-This- is the bible of bone, horn and antler crafts:
MacGregor, Arthur: Bone, Antler, Ivory and Horn - The Technology of
Skeletal Materials Since the Roman Period; Croom Helm, London
and Sydney, Barnes and Noble, Totowa, New Jersey, ISBN (OOP)
0709932421, 1985  TT288.M#   LoC 84-18535, 245pp with illus.,
Contents: Raw Materials, Bone and Antler as Materials, Availability,
Handicraft as Industry, Working Methods and Tools, Artefacts of
Skeletal Materials - a typological review, Bibliography, Index.

MacGregor, A, A.J. Mainman, and N.S.H. Rogers: Bone, Antler, Ivory and
Horn from Anglo-Scandinavian York; The Archaeology of York, Small
Finds, 17/12 Craft, Industry and Everyday Life; Published by the
British Council for Archaeology, Bowes Morrell House, 111 Walmgate,
York, Y01 9WA, England, ISBN 1872414990, 936.2'843, Published
for the York Archaeological Trust, 1999, 213 pp. with Illustrations.
     ..........
Ritchie, Carson I. A.: Bone and Horn Carving, A Pictorial History; 
South Brunswick and New York, A.S. Barnes and Co.; 
London: Thomas Yoseloff Ltd.,  166pp., illustrated, 1975 , 
NK 6020R52  736'6  LoC#73-22601, ISBN 0498014045.
This is quite a good book on the subject.
     ...........
Roesdahl, Else: The Vikings in England and in Their Danish Homeland, 
Exhibition Catalog, (with James Graham-Campbell, Patricia, Connor and
Kenneth Pearson) Publ. by Anglo-Danish Viking Project, London 1981, 
192 pp. Pb, Color and b&w photos of metalwork, weapons, jewelry, 
daily items, beads, coinage, houses, ships, costume, combs, maps, 
bone and antler items, whetstones, dies, Bamberg Casket - Kunigunde's 
Jewel Box, spoons, frying pan, horn mounts, and sculpture - 
architectural and memorial, and amber. 
     ............
St. Clair, Archer and Elizabeth Parker McLachlan: The Carver's Art -
Medieval Sculpture in Ivory, Bone and Horn; September 10 - 
November 21, 1989; The Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers,
The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 
1989,  LoC# 89-84265, 146pp., Illustrated Exhibition Catalog.
     ............
People have recommended a variety of methods for cleaning out horns with
bottle brushes, soap, etc. in my notes.  My (presently lost, whereabouts
unknown) friend Ezekial the Demented / Scott Snyder, actually a
Chemistry
PhD. from Duke University, recommended a three percent solution of 
ordinary hydrogen peroxide. Someone on a list once recommended 80% which
is quite dangerous. The highest he's ever worked with was 30%. 
     ...........
Wax is commonly used but - 
Brewers pitch for lining (horn or) leather bottels, costrels, etc. 
from: 
W. H. Keys Ltd. Hall End works,
Church Lane, West Bromwich, 
West Midlands. B71 1BN. U.K. 
Fax. 0121 500 5820. 
or 
Melanie Wilson, 72 High Street, Syston, LE7 1GQ England
who also does Booksearches and supplies for reenactors: 
Tel: +44 116 260 4442 +44 1509 812806
Fax: +44 116 260 1396 +44 1509 812334
Email: Booksearch@dragonflight.co.uk
MelanieWilson@bigfoot.com 
MelanieWilson@lcv.co.uk  http://www.pastclass.co.uk/
Recently I have seen her advertising horn tablets for tablet
weaving custom made in multiple holed varieties - up to seven holes.

Mangel, Scheuermann and Oetters in Pennsylvania, 
available only in gallon pails at ~$135 each.  
When it sets, this is a rigid, smooth, black coating.
  Mangel Scheurmann & Oeters
  1957 Pioneer Rd Bldg B
  Huntingdon Vly, PA 19006-2503 
  Phone: (215)674-5500

Personally I would stick with wax. Shellac/lacquer is easily dissolved
by alcohol, which rather defeats the purpose of drinking horns.
However, many candies have shellac used for finishing them.
Behlen's Salad Bowl finish is a urethane resin. Just about any
clear polyurethane/urethane is non-toxic after 30 day's drying 
according to articles I have read and are not usually susceptible 
to dissolving with your mead/beer/wine. 
     ..........
A few more horn type references:
Abbey Horn of Lakeland, 1749, Ltd.   http://www.abbeyhorn.co.uk/ 6/02
Holme Mills, Holme, Carnforth, Lancashire, LA6 1RD, England 6/02 
Telephone: 0044 (0) 1524 782387  Fax: 0044 (0) 1524 782099  6/02
E. Mail: info@abbeyhorn.co.uk 6/02
http://www.abbeyhorn.com/
     ...........
Historic Enterprises http://www.historicenterprises.com/ sells
individual lanthorn panes, spoons, and tablet weaving tablets.
Moscow Hide and Fur at http://www.hideandfur.com
http://www.antlersunlimited.com/
http://www.clawantlerhide.com/
http://www.ZackWhite.com/  A local Ramseur, North Carolina, USA
purveyor of horns and leathers and tools and supplies.
Tandy Leathercrafts and their new owner (former employees) the
Leather Factory also carry horns. http://www.tandyleather.com/
and http://www.leatherfactory.com/. Tandy is re-establishing
their collapsed group of stores with outlets now in Canada
and the USA numbering about 22 in the current Leathercrafters' Journal.
     ...........
http://housebarra.com/PastTimes/articles/horn1.html
http://housebarra.com/PastTimes/articles/horn2.html 1/02
http://housebarra.com/PastTimes/EP/ep01/11drinkcon.html
http://housebarra.com/PastTimes/EP/ep02/10moreho.html
     ...........
>The Boone Trading Company, PO Box BB, 562 Coyote Road, Brinnon, WA 98320
>Their phone number is (360)-796-4330 or 1-800-423-1945.  They sell  >ivory/horn/mammoth ivory/netsuke/scrimshaw/animal skulls/teeth/hides/
>vegetable ivory/eskimo artifacts/genuine Roman Millifori beads/semiprecious
>beads and a variety of related items.<
     ...........
Mistress Rosatrue the Shrew and her husband, Master Ross. 
Ross and Katy MacLean, 1022 Webbs Mill Rd. N. Floyd, Va 24091,
(540) 745-4054 / shrewwood1@yahoo.com 2/01
Their merchanting establishment is "Shrewwood". 
http://www.shrewwood.com/ apparently being remodeled currently.
   Mistress Shrew and Master Snaeulf of Shrewwood create pieces based 
on Norse and Celtic designs. Their various mediums include baltic amber,
horn, antler, bronze and silver casting, as well as leather. They take 
a lot of pride in creating period reproductions as well as custom work.
They do really high relief work in Antler and Horn. 
      ...........
Raymond's Quiet Press http://www.quietpress.com/ who does very nice
period jewelry and some interesting armor books includes a link to
Sir Bohemond's boots and horns page:
http://www.highfiber.com/~bohemond/Bootshop/horn.html

The plates used for embossing metal like you see on these horns are
called matrices or patrices. Essentially you make a negative or
positive of the decoration in cast thick bronze usually, then you 
take your metal sheet/foil and lay it over it and put a layer of 
lead sheet over it and proceed to pound it. The lead deforms and
pushes the sheet metal/foil into the hollows on the master and
voila! - after trimming it you have your decorative plates to rivet
and decoratively band the adjacent pieces onto your work-piece.
The lead can be remelted flat in a pan and used again. Lead is
self-annealling by the way. It does not require softening.
Lead is not the same as modern pewter. All traces of it must
be removed from the metal you are embossing. Lead can cause it
to corrupt. So wire-brush and scrub it well. This process has
been historically used for everything from metal vessels to 
dress accessories, metal foils, and decorative bits for all manner
of things. For individual pieces you would use a set of embossing
and chasing tools in a process called repouss'e which is performed
by heating jeweler's pitch, sticking the metal sheet to it and 
using punches and tiny chisels to work both sides of the sheet.
You emboss it to raise it from the back, and chase in the fine 
details from the front. Either way it's usually stuck to the pitch.
You can also dress up your work a bit with engraving tools - which
process goes back to the Bronze Age as is easily proved by the
existing marks on metals.
      ..........
Over the years I've carved by hand in bone, antler, ivory, horn, 
various plastics and woods and quite a few metals, and done some 
lapidary as well. 

For carving I use engraving burins by hand, and generally scrape to
near finish with a few sharpened dental tools. The most used engraving
burin I use is a square edged one like a less acutely angled chisel than
you would use on wood, it allows me to inlet lines by tipping it on its
side, carve the outside of round shapes, intertwine knots, etc. I find
it much easier than a diamond, lozenge, or knife-edge shaped burin for
most applications, and I only use round bottom radiused or smaller 
width chisel tools for details where nothing else will work. 

If you want a burin or two, http://www.brownells.com has some you 
can find by searching under chisels. http://www.riogrande.com/ or
http://www.tsijeweltools.com also carries them as jewelry suppliers.

Some fine wet-dry sandpaper will complete the finish on bone or 
horn. I have found Zap brand cyanoacrylate glue (superglue) to be useful
for sealing any cracks or porous areas. It comes in thin and thick and
once dry is harmless.

On occasion I have used a plastic sanding stick with tiny sanding
belts on it or a sanding bow frame with a small belt on it for rounding
or polishing details. For smaller holes I find I can slit the 1/4" wide
bow frame belt or cut it to width. http://www.micromark.com sells these 
tools. 

Dental tools can be ordered from many dealers but I generally go 
through boxes at shows. You can find them at flea markets, gem and gun
shows. Over the years I suppose I've picked up close to 200, and about
forty burins of varying shapes. I'm partial to the chisel or dovetail 
ended dental tools. I reshape them to flats, inside and outside curves 
of various dimensions and radiuses. Even to the cusp where two arcs 
join for double round details. Sometimes I also buy the wax carving 
sets of ten or twelve double ended dental like tools and reshape the 
ends to useful -sharp- shapes. The ones coming from Pakistan in
stainless
steel aren't the hardest things around, in fact lack any temper, but
are hard enough to shape these materials, and are quite cheap.

You could probably also make engraving tools from the rectangularly 
cut masonry nails, mounted in mushroom shaped handles you can buy from
TSI or Rio Grande or Brownells with a flat on one side. They work fine
for punches, even for coin die punches. Just be careful not to overheat
them and ruin the temper. Keep dipping them in water as you grind, for
hollows like C shapes I use the edge of a powered sanding belt. Friends
here make coins and I've ground some punches for them out of the nails.
They are hard enough to punch impressions in ordinary mild steel dies
and the dies last a long time.

The thing about horn is that it is laminated hair, and you have to be
careful not to lift the 'Grain' as it is all going in the same
direction.
It helps to have sharp tools and carve down-grain just as you would in
wood. I've done a carved blowing horn myself, although one day I will
have to finish the inlaid metal bits and the metal mouth and hanging
bands/loops. One of the decorated bands on mine has a 12-13th C Swedish
style dragon with a foliate tail on it.

I find a warding file or rasp with a/both smooth sides to be quite
useful for taking down the banding recesses arount the horn and
for shaping the mouthpiece if it's a blowing horn. 

Wear a really good dust mask when working skeletal materials.
Also a good dust removal system may be made quite easily from a
bathroom venting fan and a flexible hose going through a hole in
a board/cardboard cut to fit your window opening. The gap at the
top and bottom sashes can be filled with foam. Setting the fan
on your table top at the opposite side of the work will draw the
dust down and away from you. You could construct plastic or cardboard
sides to work in. It's a good home substitute for a lab vent-hood and
should cost less than fifteen pounds or twenty dollars. Just don't
use it for spraying flammables. It will also help remove that 
'interesting new smell' you've discovered from your indoor domain.
I have wheels on the small bandsaw for taking the thing outside to
cut just such things. The fine dust gets everywhere.
   
I don't know for sure if it's related or not, but a while back after
six months of bone work I spent a couple days in the emergency room/
intensive care with some sort of pneumonia. Having had pneumonia and 
pleurisy with asthma four times as a kid this time wasn't at all like
the first four except for the high fever (105) and stronger than 
normal muscle pain. [I have heavy FMS/Chronic Myofascial Pain almost 
daily.]  Massive intravenous anti-biotics continuously for 48 hours. 
That was probably a close call. 

There is a new class of -almost- life called prions that are close 
to viruses possibly carried in skeletal materials. This is fairly new 
to science and is a definite possible threat according to correspondence
from the late Master Finnr I received. There is also a discussion of
lung disease caused by working such materials by Mistress Gunnora. 
See the December 25 and 26th, 2000 postings from the 
Norsefolk@yahoogroups.com. 
The same days' postings discuss dying bone green and red in period.
In an older volume of Artist Beware I seem to recall one instance of a 
crafter dying of anthrax from the horn he was working. This was in the 
1960's I believe and the horn, like most of them, came from an
hispanic country. Most horns do as in the USA at least they are
removed and the stump burned when the cow is young. 

Notes from a few years looking at the subject... 

Master Magnus Malleus, OL, GDH © 2003 R.M. Howe  *No reposting my
writings
to newsgroups, especially rec.org.sca, or the SCA-Universitas elist. 
I view this as violating copyright restrictions. As long as it's to 
reenactor or SCA -closed- subscriber based email lists or individuals 
I don't mind. It's meant to help people without aggravating me.* 
Inclusion, in the http://www.Florilegium.org/ as always is permitted.
Regia can also use it if they like.