THE SWIFT COLLECTION A WINDOW INTO AMERICAN GILDING HISTORY

You have probably heard that SOG is now the proud owner of the Swift gold beating equipment. What is this mysterious equipment and why does SOG own it? Those questions were answered recently in an interview with SOG Board Member and past president, Peter Miller. Peter, you were instrumental in securing the Swift Collection for SOG. Can you give a little background about the collection? M. Swift & Sons was a Hartford, Connecticut business whose specialty was gold beating and the manufacture of gold leaf products. When the business was started in the late1800's, they were beating gold by hand in order to produce gold leaf. Thick solid gold.

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QUALITATIVE STUDY OF CENNINI’S GESSO FOR ILLUMINATION

By Jerry Tresser

Cennini, in his book Il Libro dell’Arte, describes how gesso was prepared during his lifetime and for centuries afterward. Before examining this medieval procedure, I would like to provide some helpful background information about where gesso comes from and procedures for preparing it. The mineral gypsum (calcium sulphate dihydrate, CaSO2HO) occurs in sedimentary rocks. During the 14thcentury, the quarries at Montmartre in Paris were the most famous mines for the production of raw gypsum. A common mineral, gypsum is found in many locations globally and occurs in many colors, depending on the other minerals to which it might be bound. “Gesso” is the Italian word for gypsum.

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