2004
Leather Bottle
My third A&S entry, I received a 1st.
It went to kingdom and received a 2nd.
Documentation
The evidence
that I found for the existence of leather bottles, and bottle making is mostly
textual. There is however several
physical examples in existence, but I was unable to acquire any photos or
documentation on them. The one physical
example that I did find sufficient evidence and description was the Mary Rose
bottle, which I will discuss later.
The first
textual documentation, although pre-SCA period, is from the Babylonian Talmud
Tract Abuda Zara, Volume X. Chapters II, and IV. I include this in my documentation mainly to
illustrate that leather was in use as a liquid holding device prior to 600 –
1600.
“Levy said: There are three kinds of wine to which the case
of uncovering does not apply--viz.: (a) wine that is both sweet and bitter; (b)
that is so strong that it breaks each leather bag, and (c) wine that will become sweet
when warmed in the sun.” (Chapter II)
“If one leather
bag full of wine was placed in another, mouth downward, it is considered
two seals, but not, if mouth upward.”
(Chapter II)
“Their enameled pitchers, after twelve months of non-usage
have elapsed, are allowed according to R. Habiba b. Rabha. R. Habiba said: And the same is the case with
their thick leather bags.” (Chapter II)
“The wine of leather bags carried by a heathen who is followed by a
supervising Israelite, is allowed if it so fills the bags that it cannot shake
at all, but if not so full, it is forbidden.”
(Chapter IV)
“R. Ashi maintains that even the wine in a leather bag that is not
full cannot be made prohibited by shaking, for it is not customary to offer
wine by shaking.” (Chapter IV)
There are also several references to leather wine skins in
the Bible, Gospel of Mark.
My other
documentation comes from the English guild system. Although the Bottlers Guild is no longer a
separate active guild, they are however a part of the “The Worshipful Company
of Horners”. The bottlers were
incorporated into the Horners guild in 1476 because of the growing glass
business (http://www.horners.org.uk/).
An interesting
note, although not within SCA period, is the Arms and Crest of the company that
was granted in 1992.
Argent on a
Chevron, between three
Leather Bottles the two in chief having their interior ends manifest
all Sable a like number of Buglehorns stringed also Argent. And for the Crest upon a Helm with a
Wreath Argent and Sable Issuant from a Circlet its upper edge invected of
five cusps Argent charged with a representation of the Polyethylene
Molecule Sable a Ram guardant Argent armed and unguled Sable supporting
between its forelegs a representation of the Benzene ring also Sable
enfiling the base of a Narwhal tusk all Argent ~ the upper end resting on
the dexter shoulder of the same
Blazon
Also mentioned in their Grant of Arms
and I quote “Most Excellent Order of the British Empire upon whom has been
conferred the Decoration of the Military Cross Earl Marshall and Hereditary
Marshal of England that on the Fifth day of March 1475/6 the Company or Mistery of Horners of London
and the Company or Mistery of Bottlemakers of London were at their own request
united to be one Mistery by the name of the Company of Horners of London
becoming generally known and styled as the WORSHIPFUL COMPANY OF HORNERS OF
LONDON” (http://www.horners.org.uk/pages/Heraldry/grant.html).
Moving on
to another document we come to the illumination “Hunters pausing for refreshment” from
the Gaston Phoebus, Book of the Hunt France, Paris, 15th Century.
The
physical object that I found was the Mary Rose bottle. The Mary Rose was built between 1509-1511,
and sank in 1545. When recovered, a
leather flask type bottle was found in the wreckage (Appendix III). As you can see the bottle is carved with
intricate designs as well as formed ridges along the body of the flask.
There
are several other medieval leather flasks/bottles among the collections of the
Museum of Leathercraft outside of
*Side Note*
I
had the opportunity to get a good look at several African leather vessels in
the Children’s
Construction
Period Materials: Non-period Materials:
7 – 8 oz. Vegetable tanned leather Tandy
antique leather dyes
Waxed linen cord Cova Color paints
Leather sewing needles Paraffin wax
Awl Dowel rod
Wooden Mallet
Swivel knife (modern equivalent)
Tooling tools (modern equivalents)
Sand
Round stick
Bee’s wax
The non-period
items that were used in the construction of the flask were the dyes, paints,
and the Paraffin. Most of the documents
that describe the waterproofing process of the bottles say to use either bee’s
wax or pine pitch. The problem that I
had with these was that I didn’t feel confident in the pine pitch being used in
something being exposed to food, and bee’s wax is expensive, I also found that
paraffin is more durable after some experimentation with both types of
wax. So, I used a food safe paraffin
wax, commonly used in canning and sealing corks, I did however uses Bee’s wax
to seal the mouth of the flask because I felt that the seal was tighter with
Bee’s wax. The modern dyes and paints
were used out of convenience.
I bought the
leather from the modern “leather seller” Tandy Leather. Leather sellers have been an organized
business since about 1444 under a charter from King Henry VI in the city of
The first step
is to find a bottle design and cut two identical pieces. After the pattern is cut, then the holes are
marked, then punched using an awl or small nail. If a pattern is going to be tooled onto the
bottle it should be done before the pieces are sewn together. The design and color scheme for this bottle
is my own variance on the anamorphic knot work found in the Book of Kells.
After the holes are punched and the
design is cut and tooled the sewing begins.
I hand stitched the pieces using a long piece of waxed linen thread with
a needle at each end, passing both needles through the holes (this stitch is
called a saddle stitch). The stitch is
then tapped down with a mallet to flatten out the seam.
The leather is then wetted, Stefan's
Florilegium says to soak the leather thoroughly, but I found that this makes
the leather too flexible and can cause deformation. Now that the leather is somewhat flexible,
the mouth of the bottle should be pried open and a round dowel or preferably a
funnel. From here the bottle is filled
with sand to fill out the shape and let dry, I let my bottles dry on a window
ledge in the sun.
I used the sand method instead of the
wooden mold method because with the sand method I felt that I had more control
over the shape of the bottle. With a
wood mold the shape is set, with sand you can add more or less, and form the
bottle to how you like it.
Once dry, stain is applied, and left
to dry. When the dye is dry, then I
painted the design with the Cova color.
Once the paint is dry the sand is dumped out and the walls scraped
clean.
When all the sand is out the bottle
is ready to be sealed with wax. The wax
is melted in a double boiler on the stove.
Once the wax is melted the funnel is placed in the mouth of the bottle
and some wax is poured in to seal the seams then poured out. I let the bottle sit for a while, about 2 or
3 minutes, and then I sealed the walls of the bottle. When the bottle has been totally sealed, I
let it sit and dry, once dry it’s tested for leaks, if it leaks, it is sealed
again.
The final step is to make the
cork. Using a ¾ inch dowel rod cut to
approximately 1.5 inches I hand carved the wood to fit into the mouth of the
bottle comfortably. The cork is sanded
then stained/sealed with a commercial wood stain.
The process is fairly time consuming, with the cutting,
sewing, tooling, staining, painting, drying, waxing, and testing.
Bibliography
Demmary, D. Kent, Antique
Leather Drinking vessels, Bosley Corp, Indianapolis IN, 1976
ENGLISH DRINKING VESSELS:
Black Jacks, Bottells and Other Items, (Part 1: Black Jacks), by Modar
Neznanich, http://www2.kumc.edu/itc/staff/rknight/Jacks.htm
BABYLONIAN TALMUD, translated
by MICHAEL L. RODKINSON
http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/t09/index.htm#zar
Gaston Phoebus, Book of the
Hunt, 15th Century. (BNF, FR 616)
http://www.bnf.fr/enluminures/manuscrits/aman10/i5_0040.htm
Guild of Educators, The http://www.guildofeducators.co.uk/city.htm
Mary Rose From Wikipedia, the
free encyclopedia,
http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Rose
On Board the Mary Rose, http://www.maryrose.org/lcity/cook/men3.htm
Stefan's Florilegium, http://www.florilegium.org/files/MEDIEVAL-LIFE/Gram-Letter3-art.html,
and http://www.florilegium.org/files/BEVERAGES/lea-bottles-msg.html
Thomas Tanner of Ely, The
Leather Bottle, bottle, botteil, flask or flackett,
http://www.adamastor.za.org/chronicler/stormtidings/archive/as/bottle.html
Worshipful Company of
Horners, The, http://www.horners.org.uk/
Worshipful Company of Leathersellers, The http://www.leathersellers.co.uk/
