More people have asked me about the use of Fish glue and slaked plaster than any other chemical in Cennini's formula for the preparation of the gesso in raised gilding . This blog will focus on Fish glue. Where it came from. Who used it first, and its value in the formula for raised gilding.
The first use and recognition of using FG came to us from Graily Hewitts book titled LETTERING. For those of you who dont know the name. Hewitt was a student of Edward Johnston. As a matter of fact Graily Hewitt wrote an appendix in Johnston's , WRITING , ILLUMINATING & LETTERING that related to the gilding portion of Johnston's book.
In 1930 Graily Hewitt published his book LETTERING. The last few sections of the book was devoted to Cennini's formula for raised gilding. It is here that the first inception of using FG was mentioned.
In my 30 years of study on the subject of raised gilding and gesso's I have never found, nor are their any references that I have ever seen written, that relate to the use of FG in Cennini's formula for the preparation of the gesso for raised gilding. I have never found nor are their any references that I have ever seen or written of FG in ANY book or manuscript relating to the preparation of gessos for raised gilding prior to Hewitts book.
The first usage of FG as a integral part of the mix is introduced on page 282 in Hewitts book in the section devoted to "Of Materials of the Assio" (GESSO) LETTERING 1930
It is here that the seed was planted because Hewitt assumed that an additional adhesive was necessary in the formula and FG would handle the job.
Before we move into a description of this product, I should note that 38 years later when the first CALLIGRAPHERS HANDBOOK was printed, Irene Base congratulates Hewitt's efforts and describes how Hewitt single handily recovered the lost art ! Although Irene Base acknowledges that Parchment size (which we will discuss later) was used in the original formula, through the wonderful experiments of Hewitt we now have FG as a substitute and the formula has now been saved!
Not only that, but Irene Base even mentions on page 101 of the Calligraphers Handbok that LaPages FG # 25 which is only availble in a bottle is the glue to use. So their we have it. The immortalization of FG and Graily Hewitts advancement in the world of re-developing Cennini's gesso from the 14th century on raised gilding.
Now to add a little footnote to history, the CALLIGRAHERS HANDBOOK II , 1986, also had an updated version of Cennini's fromula written by Donald Jackson, who also congratulates Hewitts work as well as the contributions of Irene Base,
BUT even though the use of FG continued, Jackson makes the following observation, which I will quote " After many years of research, A.V. Hughes, a student and associate of Hewitt's concluded that parchment size was an improvement on fish glue as a binding medium in the making of gesso" This quote by DJ was from page 183 , from the Calligraphers Handbook 2 in the section devoted to Gilding. Now the question arises. How could Hughes have made this conclusion since the use of FG was never even printed or used prior to Hewitts writing.
So now we have FG which never was in the original formula, introduced in 1930, by Hewitt, contributed by Base in 1968, and gets a new meaning in 1986 with an interpretation that diminishes its value in the formula, complements of Donald Jackson. AND IT IS STILL BEING USED AS OF THIS WRITING. Are you with me so far !
So here is the sad part. Every book that has been published since the first Calligraphers Handbook that has a section devoted to raised gilding has FG as part of the formula for Cennini's recipe . A formula that never had FG in the first place !
To add insult to injury, their are people who are teaching Cennini's recipe for raised gilding in a workshop setting and are using FG as their adhesive. I am sure if you asked why, they would tell you that this is the way they were taught or this is what they themselves read !
This information that I am providing is very accurate. But really belongs in Ripley's "Believe it or Not" catagory because to make the folly even worse. Irene Base mentions in the Calligrpahers Handbook that La Pages # 25 is the right FG to use. But she cannot locate it in any store!!!!!! I wonder why?
What she did not know or realize is that La Page stopped manufacturing that bottled glue during Britons entrance into WW2. Calligraphers were probably running around the entire kingdom looking for this elusive bottle and it was no where to be found !!!!
Irene Base never bothered to check or contact LaPage. Had she done so, AS I DID !! she would have learned that La Page stopped making the bottled # 25 almost 35 years before she wrote her article on raised gilding.
LaPage made a strong FG adhesive that was actually a size (their is a difference between a size and a glue. Which will be discussed later). Yes it was bottled during the 30's, and yes it was called LaPage's # 25. But it was taken off the shelves and used in the production of chairs, tables and wooden coffins during the war efforts. It was never available to the public from that point on. And disappeared for ever !!!!
It was replaced with a bottom of the barrel glue that now came in a squeeze tube and its rebirth was called Secotine Fish Glue. A glue that was made from the leftovers of fish parts. Bladder, and anything else that was unusable for anything other than a cheap glue which had a poor history as an adhesive. As of this writing, Secotine Fish Glue is still being produced and is still being marketed for the calligraphic trade in gilding circles as the glue of choice for raised gilding. (see the book Secreta by Joyce Grafe)
This should be a wake up call . When Hewitt decided to use FG he changed, altered, and made a new formula. One that provided unexplainable problems that people experienced in trying to understand why their gesso never worked properly. This is only one of the many problems that Hewitt contributed to. Needless to say, we can always blame the weather or the fact that YOU did not prepare the gesso correctly !!
Hewitt points out that FG had a reliable history (see page 282 in LETTERING) but actually FG had a terrible history as being very unreliable.. I have written proof of that from the famous Flemish painter Vandyke who wrote that FG was basicall good "for nothing" Its only service was as a pigment binder and an adhesive for painting, but never , ever as a component for a gesso. Hewitt knew that as well
Without going into to much detail, I feel obligated in providing the reader with a definition of SIZE, and to understand the difference between size and glue.
Size is the careful boiling of skin or bones of animals. When prepared properly it produces a powerful geletin. Historically size was made from clippings from bovine. Parchment size was used as the main adhesive in gessos for raised gilding during the 14th and 15th century. Glue is defined as anything else that makes an adhesive. Cheese, bladder, kidney, and a variety of other non skin or bone residuals make up the bulk of glue as an adhesive.
Additional informaton is available in my book with microscopic photos, and how size appears in the gesso, etc. FG was never even a consideration for use in a gesso as a main ingredient . Secondly their are no early writings that even remotely suggest the use of FG in anything other than flat gilding. Even in that format the reservations were great.
What I do want to say, is that its important to question and not take everything for granted that comes to us in the form of authority either in a book or a workshop unless these formulas can be substantiated and validated with some intelligent information either historically , chemically or both !!
Hewitt may have had good intentions, but he was so blindsighted in attempting to redevelop a formula THAT DID NOT NEED FIXING and that he failed to realize, it was his interpretation that was so skewed . The formula as outlined by Cennini was accurate without Hewitts help or Irene Base embellishing on Hewitts so called accomplishments on a formula that has provided substantially more failures than what would be considered normal.
Whats even more amazing is that FG is still being used as the cornerstone adhesive for gesso preparation in current workshops and books that relate to the subject. The only exception is my book and teachings.
OK, so what is the current use of FG? Aside from selling it to calligraphers, it is used mostly by people in gum packaging tape business. You know those brown tapes that get re-moisturized.................guess what , its a watered down FG
