Calligraphy and Illumination Courses 2024

I am teaching two one-day courses at Sevenoaks in Kent (35 minutes by train from Charing Cross in London, and about 10 minutes from Junction 5 of the M25) in autumn 2024. The course on Saturday 21st September is ‘Quills and Calligraphy‘ and will be for both beginners – those just starting calligraphy – as well as improvers – those with some experience. The day will focus on Gothic Black Letter/Gothic Textura script. The course includes cutting a quill from a feather, and preparing a piece of vellum for writing and then writing a name on it with the quill.

Sets of 9–10 printed A3 sheets are provided for everyone on the ‘Quills and Calligraphy‘ course; these include the background and history of the script as well as principles of calligraphy, with exemplar letters and also ready ruled sheets showing the letters with individual strokes and direction arrows for construction, and then space to practise them (see image here). The handouts can be taken home as an aide memoir and also to continue practice.

The afternoon starts with cutting quills from feathers. This is carefully explained and demonstrated with everyone then cutting their own quill to use on the course and take home. A small piece of vellum will then be prepared for writing and a name written on it.

The ‘Illumination Masterclass‘ is on Saturday 5th October, and again is for complete beginners as well as those with some experience. Participants can choose from a limited selection of animals from bestiaries; this choice is restricted because the aim is to finish the painting in one day and that won’t be possible with complicated miniatures, however, there is some flexibility. Vellum is prepared for painting, and a tracing of the miniature transferred using traditional materials. A modern adhesive is used as there is not time on one day to use gesso; this is used on the three-day courses each May (see here). Real 23·5 carat gold leaf is applied to the adhesive to make it glisten.

Techniques of mediæval manuscript painting are explained carefully, and gouache paint with fine sable brushes are used to complete the image.

For both courses, demonstrations are live streamed to a large TV screen so everyone can see and there is no crowding round the demonstrations. Classes are limited to six participants allowing plenty of time for individual tuition.

Courses take place in a large bright room with plenty of light and individual adjustable table lamps for each person.

All refreshments throughout the day are provided including tea, coffee, home-made biscuits, and a light lunch.

The courses are held just outside Sevenoaks in Kent (UK). There is plenty of onsite parking, and for those travelling by train there are taxis at Sevenoaks station; we can pick up and take back four people.

To apply and details of cost etc please contact me through my website.

The Glitterati of 2024

What a lovely three days we had in May when eight keen illuminators-to-be got together and produced amazing results in just three days. The courses are held in mid-May each year and are limited to eight people. This year there were two participants from Canada, an American and one participant from Hong Kong, as well as four British. It made for a very jolly and very keen group.

The course focuses on the traditional materials, tools and techniques of mediæval manuscript illumination, including vellum preparation for painting, making, laying and using gesso, cutting quills from feathers, using 23·5 carat gold leaf, using burnishers, the processes of painting miniatures and much more.

It’s a huge amount to get through even with three days, but everyone set to with great enthusiasm. Despite all the best conditions, careful measuring and making, gesso can still be rather temperamental and so it proved on this course! Various approaches were tried, but it wasn’t possible even at the end of the course to burnish the gold to the shine that we all would have liked. The gesso needed to ‘settle’ for that; however, it was a very good experience for everyone on the course to have practical ideas to consider for what to do when it doesn’t work! So often it can be perfect on a course with the tutor there for quick answers, and then not so good at home when there’s no one at hand to advise.

Here are the results and the reason why the images are rather wonky is that I was trying to get the gold to glisten as best it could!

These are the comments from those on the course, but not necessarily next to their wonderful results:

Wonderful. I had an absolutely fabulous time and can’t wait to start working on projects at home. I’ll be telling my friends that if they ever get the chance to take this course they should absolutely do it.

Absolutely fabulous!! Well worth coming from Canada. I am so very glad to have made the journey and truly value the gift of the skills shared and encouraged. THANK YOU FROM MYSELF and all of our friends with whom we will share what we have learned (and will encourage to come). It was a privilege to learn from a master craftsperson such as you.

Absolutely fabulous – everything you could wish for on the subject. Great camaraderie, great facilities, lots of historical information. Loved every minute.

I truly enjoyed listening to your stories and demonstrations. I love how you’ve turned everything surrounded by mystery into something everyone can do. I loved it and wouldn’t change a thing.

Patricia really is the master of illumination. She is clear, knowledgable, even students without anything about illumination can get it done. Excellent and enjoyable. I would definitely recommend to anyone who is interested in illumination.

Very good combination and helpful to have an in-person teacher who could give comments and observe to fix mistakes and technique. Would recommend to any serious student of mediæval illuminated manuscripts.

Excellent! Everything is well explained.

I had a great time and learned a lot. Lovely setting and facilities.

Trajan’s Column II

Trajan’s Column in Rome, completed in 113 AD, commemorates the victory of the Emperor Trajan over the Dacians. It is stunning when viewed in real life as it towers over the ruins of Trajan’s Forum and Market, being 98 feet (30 metres) high. The main part of the column consists of a frieze in bas relief which shows in great detail the preparations, movement of troops and battles that took place before the final victory, with Trajan, not surprisingly, being the tallest of all the figures in the column. There are 20 drums in all around which the figures wind, each drum weighing about 32 tons. It truly is a magnificent example of Roman engineering.

It is the base of the column, though, which is most interesting to calligraphers and letterers because it shows exquisitely carved Roman Capitals, regarded by many as the purest examples. It has been only recently (post written May 2024) that it has been possible to get anywhere near this part of the column to view the lettering.

An exhibition in spring 2024 at the Coliseum detailed how the column was constructed. Huge blocks of Carrara marble were moved from the quarries in Lunigiana sliding on wooden poles and being pulled by a team of oxen.

The stone drums were shaped into circles and the inner staircase cut as well. What is amazing is the accuracy of each block which had to fit on the next. The masons also had to allow for the fact that to make the columns look straight, there needed to be a swelling just below half way. This is explained in a blogpost on this website here. The huge round blocks were then loaded on to ships using a system of pulleys and a lot of labour as shown here.

Once at the forum, they needed to be put into position. The stone blocks were far too heavy to use a simple system of pulleys, and so a tower was built as here.

Either side of the column were two libraries, one for Greek texts and one for Roman, with bookshelves to store the scrolls. It was possible from balconies on these buildings to view the carvings spiralling round the column close up.

At the base of the column during construction was a huge wooden treadwheel. A similar one is shown carved into the family tomb of the Haterii. During the reign of Domitian (81–96 AD) Haterius was working on the construction of buildings and would have used a treadmill as the one carved on his tomb. The treadwheel had 5 men inside and ropes held by more men outside acted as brakes. There were two parallel wide poles creating the crane’s mast between which was the wheel’s axle; this all made up a strong block and tackle system.

This is shown more clearly here. The sheer mass of the wood being used for construction is amazing, and also the strength of the men using this machinery.

The spiral stone staircase carved inside the blocks led to the top of the column where there was a viewing platform. It must have been quite a sight, climbing the stairs and reaching the top for a view over Trajan’s Forum and the main Forum itself!

But, of course, it is the carvings on the outside of the column that are the true stars! Twisting round the column, with no allowance given from one stone drum to the next, a narrow carved line stands proud and separates the scenes one from another.

Here preparations are being made for the battles, with Neptune looking on benignly, no doubt giving his blessing to the campaign. The detail on the clothing, the wooden ships, the horses, a wooden bridge and building walls is really wonderful.

And even the base has the same care and attention to detail, with enviable precision of carving. Note the carefully carved garland of individuals leaves, and the metal ‘scales’ on the cuirass in the middle.

It truly is one of the wonders of the ancient world, and still astounds today.

Heraldic Hatchments

Many historical churches display diamond-shaped boards on their walls. These have heraldic emblems on them, but what are they, what do they mean, and why are they there? They are called ‘hatchments’, from ‘achievements’ of arms, or sometimes called ‘funeral escutcheons’ (an escutcheon being an heraldic shield). An achievement of arms includes the shield, helm, wreath, crest, mantling, motto, and supporters if used. One such hatchment is shown here; it is for Sir Thomas Barnardiston, third Baronet, who sadly died aged 26 in 1700. This hatchment is actually incorrect as explained below. All photographs (© Patricia Lovett MBE 2024) from the St Peter and St Paul Church in Kedington, Suffolk.

Hatchments indicated that a person bearing heraldic arms had died. Traditionally, they were first hung outside the house of that person and, after a period of mourning, were then re-hung in their local church. Bachelor’s hatchments included their shield, helm, wreath and crest and sometimes mantling; unmarried women’s hatchments showed their coat of arms on a lozenge, usually with a bow at the top, as women’s coats of arms, not being shown on a shield shape, didn’t include wreaths, helms and crests. This hatchment is for the first Baronet, another Sir Thomas Barnardiston, who died in 1669.

Sometimes the helm, wreath and crest were replaced by a skull, a reminder of what was to happen to the corpse and a warning to all, or for women a cherub. And the motto may be replaced by ‘Resurgam’ – ‘I will rise’. The hatchment of Anne, widow of the third Sir Thomas Barnardiston (see first image above), is here. She died in 1701, the year after her husband. Her coat of arms is shown on a lozenge, impaled (combined vertically) with that of her husband.

Some hatchments have completely black backgrounds, and some white and black, divided vertically. This colour distinction indicates who is living and who is dead at the time the hatchment was made. In heraldry, the right and left sides are always referred to as if a shield is being held, so the dexter side is the right-hand side of the shield, but looks left to the viewer, and the sinister is the left-hand side, but looks right to the viewer. If the sinister side (right) is painted white, it means that the wife is still living; if the dexter side (left) is white, it means that the husband is still living. In the shield at the top of this post, both sides are black, yet Thomas, the third Baronet died in 1700, and his wife, Anne, the image as above, died in 1701. So at the time of Thomas’ death, Anne’s side of the hatchment, sinister, should have been white, however, as she died so soon after her husband, it may be that the painter simply coloured her side in black.

The variation to this is if the person died was single but their arms were impaled (combined vertically) with an official post. In this case that post continues even though the person has died, so the sinister side of the hatchment remains white.

The arms of Sophia, Viscountess Wimbledon, as show on the hatchment above are different because of her peerage. As a Viscountess, she qualifies to have supporters (although these rules were relaxed in the 19th century), and these are either side of the shield and blazoned (the heraldic description) as two lions rampant ermine, that is, two lions looking sideways, and raised on one hind leg. They are painted as if they were ermine, which is a white coat with black ermine tails pushed through; the ermine tails were often depicted as black patterns. Above the lozenge shaped coat of arms is a Viscountess’s coronet, that is a silver-gilt circlet with gems shapes (but not coloured gems), and sixteen silver balls touching one another (only nine being visible).

The top two shields of the baronets include an escutcheon of the red hand of Ulster, indicating their baronetcy. I understood this to be the fact that the baronets had contributed funds or services for the king in Ireland, but I can’t find any source for that at the moment.

For more on Kedington Church, see: https://www.patricialovett.com/?s=kedington+church

‘Makers’ by Roger Lee

In the light of only a few weeks ago the government indicating that it was ratifying the UNESCO Convention on Intangible Cultural Heritage in June 2024 it seems appropriate to highlight this book of fantastic photos of makers; traditional craft skills being one of the five domains specified in that Convention. (For more on the Convention see here.)

Craft and craftspeople photograph really well, but not everyone can capture the skill, beauty and excitement of makers making. This certainly isn’t the case with this book. Roger Lee’s thoughtful and sensitive images show not only the end results of the making, but the stages in the process, the skills used, the tools, and the workshops of practitioners. It makes for a fascinating insight into the various stages in producing wonderful craft and the application of years of practice.

Roger focuses on the makers in and around his home town of Sevenoaks, in Kent, and if you ever thought that not much craft was going on in your area, then this is a tangible demonstration disproving that! From a hat maker to a harness maker, a sign writer to a jeweller, a violin restorer (as here) to a tool maker, and more, they’re all featured in this book.

Gill Stratton is a hat maker in a local village. She makes hats for posh occasions such as Ascot and Royal Garden Parties, but also for weddings and christenings, and ones to keep you warm in winter and shaded from the sun in summer. Skills needed are not just those to create the structure and decoration on the hat, but also in how to deal with the materials and fabric used, and colour theory to match outfits.

It is not only skilled practitioners in Roger’s book, Joshua Hook is an apprentice jeweller who won a silver medal in fine jewellery making at the WorldSkills UK National Final in 2021 – clearly a young man whose skills will take him far!

Roger’s book is available for sale on this link where you can also view the whole book as a pdf (you don’t have to pay!). It is well worth indulging yourself by spending a bit of time enjoying the beautiful images.

Craft and the Effects of Brexit

At the outset, it is important to know that this is not a political blog.

There has been quite a bit in the news about the problems of musicians, pop groups, opera singers, orchestras, sound and light engineers, roadies and the like, post-Brexit. Restrictions on travel with a 90-day limit of staying in the EU, visas and work permits for each EU country, requirements of details of musical instruments and equipment and their cost (for a whole orchestra!), etc, are all aspects of life in the UK that did not happen before the UK separated from the EU. The focus for many of these problems has been on those in the music industry.

The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Craft was concerned to hear stories about similar challenges for makers. A number of problems seem to have arisen for those who previously traded a lot with Europe. The unknown amount of additional tax and costs for those in the EU when buying craft from the UK causes difficulties when sometimes it seems that a considerable amount is added to the item which makes it prohibitively expensive. When items are returned as a result of this, makers may have to pay for their own work to be imported.

Craft pieces can be caught up in customs such that their arrival is delayed considerably. Exhibitions planned in the EU with UK artefacts have been delayed or even cancelled because of this. Many galleries and shops, previously showing or selling UK items, are not now exhibiting or stocking them because of this uncertainty. In addition, EU craft competitions are not accepting UK-made work because of the problems of delays in receiving items and the difficulties and cost of returning them to the UK. In one instance, the cost of receiving back an expensive item exhibited in the EU by a UK maker was too much for the maker so they said to destroy the work!

The problems are exacerbated when advice is sought from government websites and advisers. These are geared to lorryloads and containers full of goods and big companies, not makers asking for details with just one craft item to be exported. And this is repeated when makers want to take their work, tools and materials abroad themselves for craft fairs, workshops or demonstrations. There is considerable confusion and often the wrong advice is given, causing more problems.

One of the joys of being a maker is always passing on the skills, interacting with other makers and learning about new techniques, materials and tools. Due to customs and restrictions on travel, this has just about stopped.

There are many other aspects of craft and the EU post-Brexit that are causing difficulties. When the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Craft heard that there was going to be a debate on the Arts (and Crafts!) in the House of Lords and the challenges of post-Brexit were going to be considered, I sent out a message through every channel I could to ask for personal experiences. Over a four-week period in August (never the best month for makers) I had a number of responses, often interestingly long and detailed, and many of them sad and frustrating.

The responses have been condensed to bullet points and can be read Craft and Brexit points only.

Photos 1,2 and 4 taken at Fortnum and Masons in London when Heritage Crafts exhibited traditional crafts as part of London Craft Week.

UNESCO Convention on Intangible Cultural Heritage

What a wonderful Christmas present for those of us in the UK when, on 23rd December 2023, it was announced by the government that it was going to ratify the UNESCO Convention on Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) in June 2024, after consultation until March 2024, see more here. This has been after years of advocacy and meetings with successive Ministers, Secretaries of State (four of the latter since 2020!), and civil servants. When we started this campaign the response was ‘not minded to’, then it was ‘not a priority’, and then we were told to go away and make a business case (how do you do this for story telling or clog dancing?). Early on, when we started, of the 193 countries signed up to UNESCO, the UK was one of only 27 not to have ratified the Convention; at the time of this announcement at the end of 2023, the UK was then one of only 12 out of 193 – a small club that the UK shouldn’t have been in!

The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Craft (APPG Craft), set up in 2018, understood the importance of ratification and, since its formation, has had meetings with those in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). Questions have been asked in parliament by the marvellous and supportive Officers of the APPG Craft and many informal conversations have been had also. The Group even got a petition together to support the advocacy and encourage ratification; this petition managed to get over 100 signatures within a week, a number of them from very prestigious people and organisations. It is clear that a great deal of effort has been put into encouraging ratification, and that there is a lot of support for it. This is why the government’s decision now is so important and why it will be a gamechanger.

It’s a tricky phrase – ‘Intangible Cultural Heritage’, and not always easy to explain. Tangible Cultural Heritage is not too difficult. Essentially it’s mainly what can be seen – castles, stately homes, historical buildings, and the artefacts that go in them such as tapestries, furniture, ornaments; then there’s historical books, museum collections, and artworks. It also includes our landscapes including National Parks and designated walks such as the Pilgrims’ Way and the Pennine Way. The UK has been amongst the world leaders in how tangible heritage has been looked after and conserved through organisations such as the National Trust and Historic England, listing of important buildings, alongside support groups that focus on local and regional tangible heritage.

Our Intangible Cultural Heritage can’t be quite so succinctly defined in that, generally speaking, it’s the sorts of things that can’t always be seen, such as traditional crafts skills, languages, customs, traditions and celebrations. Perhaps thinking of it as ‘Living Heritage’ is an easier concept.

The UNESCO Convention on ICH identifies five domains. These are:

Oral traditions and expressions, including language
Performing arts
Social practices, rituals and festive events
Knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe
And for me, really importantly, Traditional craft skills

The easy and trite view could be that these are only our historical customs with no relevance now, and can sometimes be viewed as being a bit weird as they cover traditions such as Morris Dancing, mummers’ plays, and cheese rolling. But it also includes sea shanties, Scottish dancing, Irish pipe playing and even the skills needed to make Arbroath Smokies and Kippers. ICH includes the intangible cultural heritage of all in that country as well so in the UK that would then include celebrations of those bringing their own traditions and heritage into the UK such as the Notting Hill Carnival and the skills of making and playing steel drums. Before that letter with the petition was sent to Oliver Dowden MP, then Secretary of State at DCMS, Professor Tim Ingold of the University of Aberdeen wrote:

‘I can imagine a sceptical reader of this letter, unconvinced of the value of craftsmanship, linguistic diversity and folksong, only finding confirmation of their view that what is it stake with ‘intangible heritage’ is no more than a miscellany of tidbits that would not be out of place in a tourist shop, serving to feed a popular appetite for nostalgia and the ‘artisanal’. They would not get the message that this is really about revitalising skills and practices that have the potential to be transformative for future generations. This is much bigger than Arbroath smokies and Stilton cheese. It is about placing values of care and custodianship, as well as respect for difference, at the heart of the ways we live.’ (Quoted by kind permission)

Version 2 That last sentence is really significant – placing values of care and custodianship, as well as respect for difference, at the heart of the ways we live.

The purposes of the Convention are specified as:

1. To safeguard the intangible cultural heritage
2. To ensure respect for the intangible cultural heritage of the communities, groups and individuals concerned
3. To raise awareness at the local, national and international levels of the importance of the intangible and to provide for international co-operation and assistance

All this is for communities, groups and individuals (as in the Convention) – each identifying what is their own intangible cultural heritage. I’ve often likened it to the applications to be Cities of Culture. In this instance, cities list what makes them different, what it is about them that should be highlighted and celebrated, and this often includes their intangible cultural heritage, their festivals, celebrations and heritage craft skills.

Each individual, hamlet, village, town, community, city, county, region, England and the devolved countries can think about, consider and identify what makes them them, what is their intangible cultural heritage, what makes them different, what gives them a sense of identity and belonging, and what do they want to celebrate and cherish. This is the heritage that is passed down from generation to generation and:

‘… is constantly recreated by communities and groups in response to their environment, their interaction with nature and their history, and provides them with a sense of identity and continuity, thus promoting respect for cultural diversity and human creativity.‘ (from the Convention)

And, most importantly, there should be respect for that difference, not division nor competition. These identified aspects of ICH should first be surveyed and recorded, then be safeguarded, they should also be respected, and awareness of them and their importance raised at local, national and international levels.

At the time of writing, the yearly fee for ratification of the Convention on ICH is $150,000 (about £120,000). This is a very small sum for the government.

However, there are also obligations for the government in addition. The ICH must first be identified and documented; there should be ‘research, preservation, protection, promotion, enhancement and transmission, through formal and non-formal education, and the revitalisation of aspects of heritage‘.

The surveying or research is already being done for traditional craft skills in the whole of the UK by Heritage Crafts by their creation of the Red List of Endangered Crafts (which is now replicated in a number of other countries), and steps have been taken through their Endangered Crafts Fund to support such crafts. But much more can and should be done such as promotion and raising awareness of such crafts, and support for training, including the establishment of full-time courses rather than the part-time courses – in many crafts the only ones available – which are usually self-funded and thus available only for those with means. And all this also applies to the other four domains specified.

The additional feature of the UNESCO Convention on ICH is that countries can identify those aspects of ICH that they would like to highlight and specify. On the press release that included pantomimes, sea shanties, and calligraphy (hurray!), and during this consultation period the government has asked for nominations. I am convinced that ratification will include much more than simply the listing a few aspects of ICH.

All photographs © Patricia Lovett MBE 2023. You’ll note that they are virtually all craft and probably won’t be surprised by that! My apologies to anyone here photographed but not acknowledged. I’ve trawled through my online album and picked out those I think suitable. These go back some years and I now can’t remember where they were taken nor of whom! However, in order these are: chair caning, cordwaining, tailoring and gold work, gilding on a shape, Morris Dancing, casting, applying gold to the gingerbread on the Cutty Sark ship, vellum making, illumination on one of my courses, cutting a quill from a feather, and calligraphy (of course!) from one of my free online Calligraphy Clips.

Grinling Gibbons – Master Woodcarver

Grinling Gibbons is probably the most skilled and most creative wood carver there has ever been. Stand in front of any of his pieces and marvel at the intricacy of the designs and the supreme skill in cutting into pale, almost white, limewood to create wonderful images in 3-D. This amazing wood carving is now in the Pitti Palace in Florence. It was made to celebrate the friendship between King Charles II of England and Cosimo III of the Medici family. The fact that it is still in existence is quite something as first it had to withstand the sea journey to the port of Livorna to get to Italy initially, then the flooding of Florence in 1966 and finally a fire at the Pitti Palace in 1984. It has recently been restored and is now exhibited in its glorious light colour contrasting with the darker background as shown here.

Two turtle doves, their beaks ‘kissing’, indicate the friendship between the two great men. The birds are surrounded by carved foliage, flowers and fruit.

Below the birds is the most delicate and intricate lace jabot. Without knowing that this was carved into wood, it could easily be thought of as real. Note the ring of roses just above this.

There are representations of the arts with one of them shown here – a goose feather (not yet made into a quill). Others include a paint palette and brushes, and a laurel wreath. Note, though, the carving of Grinling Gibbons’ name into the scroll at the bottom of the feather, and to the right beads, curling foliage, shells and bunch of grapes with the tendrils so delicately carved.

There are musical instruments, trumpets and what look like recorders as seen here, and even a musical score, the five staves, lines and notes clearly visible. Just above this is a medallion suspended from a chain with each link delicately carved. This sits on top of a quiver of arrows. And that in turn leads to a coronet, showing pearls and gems in exquisite detail.

Another coronet is at the bottom of the quiver, and this leads the eye to an amazing cornucopia of flowers and fruit – the sign of a true master.

Imagine Cosimo’s delight when on 16th December 1682 this package arrived and was unwrapped before him. Now who wouldn’t want to receive a Christmas present like this?

A Scribe and Illuminator’s Workroom

Having just finished twenty-one new pieces for my forthcoming British Library book (this post is written in July 2023), I decided to re-cover my sloping board – something I do once about every 3-4 years, depending on how dirty it is. As it was so lovely and clean I felt that it might be interesting to show the board and the rest of my workroom. This is the view from the door, and although it looks big, it’s about 2 metres by 3·5 metres. However, don’t think that I’m complaining that it’s small! I know how very lucky I am to have a dedicated workroom when most people have to share their working space within another room, as I did for very many years. My chair in front of the board is padded with two flat cushions and stools are to hand on the right to put completed work or a computer, or texts just written. Note also how close my chair is to the sink on the left.

So, the room tour. Directly to the left of the door are large cardboard tubes. Most of these are from vellum skins sent from William Cowley, but the large one at the back right is from work I did for the Damian Hirst ‘s exhibition held in Venice – ‘Treasures of the Wreck of the Unbelievable’. To the immediate left are red tubes of tracing paper for large projects. The tubes are useful not only for storing large sheets of paper but also for sending large artworks to those who have commissioned pieces. Now, however, I work mostly on vellum, and so large pieces are stretched over board requiring a different delivery system, and so these tubes are a bit redundant, somehow, though, I can’t bring myself to throw them away!

On the work surface to the right of the tubes are swans’ and Canadian goose feathers ready to be cut into quills. It may look like quite a lot for one scribe but most are waiting for workshops I teach on ‘Quills and Calligraphy’. I also don’t cure feathers with heat – sand or a Dutching tool and an iron. I find that feathers cure themselves by just being left to dry naturally as I’m sure happened in mediæval and Renaissance times. It was only with the rise of literacy and growth of empires and the need for records that more and more pens were needed and the curing process had to be speeded up that heat was needed.

Above that are cupboards of books and supplies. This is the first cupboard. At the bottom left is a small folder bursting with papers. These are quotations, poems and prose that I’ve collected over many years and which I write out to give to friends or for my own use. Occasionally someone will ask me if I’ve got something suitable for an occasion and it may be in here or in one of the books to the right which focus on important stages in life – birth, marriage and death mainly. Above that are various books by other calligraphers – it’s always useful to see what the competition is up to. And above that books on Latin, Chaucer, and various reference books to use in my work.

Under that cupboard is a new piece on vellum waiting to be sent to the person who commissioned it. I hope to be able to do a blogpost about this in the future as it was a really interesting artwork to do. Behind that is a strip of lead to be made into lead points to show to classes and for them to use. And at the back, to the right is oak gall ink getting nicely black. Oh and more books!

Below that, all along the work surface are even more books! Book shelves in the house are completely full, so are the cupboards here. I also have my own books here which I also use for reference – not everything stays in mind and so it’s helpful to look things up. In front of the books is a new box of Schmincke Calligraphy Gouache to use in photographs for the new book. They really are the best paints to use for writing and for painting. There’s more about them and mixing colours from the two reds, two blues, and two yellows here.

There’s a small sink just behind where I sit, completely reachable by simply swivelling round in my seat. I cleaned it up specially for this photo! It’s usually covered with ink and colour and not a pretty sight. To the right of the sink is a pot with old toothbrushes in it ready to brush the nibs clean. To the side and behind the sink are clean little jars up-ended and ready to fill with water for washing brushes when painting or to add to gouache to dilute it for writing and painting. It isn’t shown here but the tap is this side of the sink just to the left again for ease of use.

On to the window sill there’s clean paper towels for wiping nibs and reservoirs dry so they don’t rust, and tubes of Schmincke gouache ready to use. There are too many tubes to store neatly but I know where each tube is in that pile and usually just need to reach my hand out to grab the one I want.

Further along the window sill is a pot of quills already cut just waiting to be used. The nibs of all of these will have separated into two halves. This is not a disaster! The strength of a feather is when it is complete, cutting into it weakens it. However, popping the quill into a jar of water for an hour or so brings the two tines together ready for use and doesn’t soften the nib.

Below the window sill and just to the left of the seat is a trolley of already mixed (but now dried) small palettes and crucibles of paint, jars of black ink, and ink droppers to add water to paint (never use a brush dipped in clean water as the quantity can’t be controlled). Good quality gouache will last in this dry state with water added when it needs to be used. At the front right are pen holders, the green one in the shape of a dragon, and an Arkansas stone to sharpen nibs. As a right-hander, everything is to my left so that I can easily fill pens with ink and paint with my left hand, and then not take a fully charged pen over where I’ve just written. I did think to clean this up a little before this post, but it’s how I work and so I left it!

Then, proud moment here, my clean new board. This is flat whereas it would usually be at a slope of about 45°. It’s a large board with its own stand with a sloping rule, ideal for drawing the many lines calligraphers need to do. A pad of white paper completely covers the board, and then a fold of paper (fold at the top) goes right across bottom part of the board held at a slight tension, so that the writing paper can go to the right and left, and up and down, and doesn’t slip. The writing paper or vellum isn’t attached anywhere because it needs to be at a comfortable writing level which is usually when the hand is about the same level as the shoulder. The shadow is a large light fitted with daylight bulbs so it gives the truest light. The window, which is another source of light, is of course, for a right-hander on my left so that my hand doesn’t create a shadow where I’m writing and painting.

To the right of the board are all the tools I need for painting and writing. At the back on the left is a long metal straight edge for cutting paper and skin of large pieces, and to the left, in the front, are erasers in a little muller, behind that a tiny jar of pounce, and behind that little bags of sandarac in a shallow pot. Magic tape, used pretty much all the time to attach lines on roughs and best pieces is to the left of a hygrometer which indicates the humidity for illumination. And behind that are scissors, dividers, pens, brushes, paste and wash brushes etc. To the right of the storage pots are large knives for cutting vellum.

At the back of the table to the right is a plastic folder which holds set squares. One side of all of these has a metal edge for cutting (don’t cut using a set square without a metal edge as the knife is bound to cut into the plastic and ruin the straight edge). It is easy to stand up from my board and simply reach over for these. In front of them is a magnifying glass on its own stand for working on tiny paintings.

All sit on a variety of sizes of cutting mats. Of course, everything has to be moved off if I want to use the larger one, so I must admit that I usually use the medium sized one and just slide the paper/skin along. This isn’t the best or most efficient and it really would be more sensible simply to move stuff off!

A relatively new addition, recommended by my son-in-law who is an excellent photographer, is this flat table and two powerful lights (not the the Anglepoise to the right which has a different purpose) to take good quality photographs of my work, and the camera I use (far too old but I don’t know what new one to get – I’m far from an expert!) is at the back. On the table is a card with gesso at various mixes, and an experiment of shell gold on vellum written with a quill just to make sure that the treatment I was going to give for the actual skin produced the best result.

The last of the ‘tour’ are rolls of vellum (and one of paper to the left). It is better to take the relatively tightly rolled skins out of the tube they are sent in so that the roll is much looser; this then makes it easier to cut large and small pieces from the skin. In front of the rolls are smaller pieces of vellum in a clear plastic folder, some far too small to use but somehow I think they may be handy for something. I used to make vellum size from them for making gesso but now I use fish glue (Seccotine). This is a bit of a dark corner so the Anglepoise lamp is there to add light when selecting the skins.

And a last tantalising look at how the sloping board is at the moment (July 2023). These are the twenty-one new pieces of artwork with stage-by-stage of how they were done for the ‘Art of the Scribe’ book to be published Spring 2024 by the British Library. It is an information book about seven selected writing styles – the ones most commonly used by calligraphers –and also a practical section for each script of three graded pieces with detailed instructions on how to do them. You’ll have to wait until the book is published to see what’s in those folders!

‘Hands of Time’

There is now only a handful of watchmakers in the UK which means that it has been in the Critically Endangered category in the Heritage Crafts Red List of Endangered Crafts since the first research was published. Hurray, then, for Craig and Rebecca Struthers who run their company, Struthers Watches, in the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham. The fact that this is such a rare craft means that Rebecca’s book ‘Hands of Time’ is even more important.

However, do not think that this is yet another book on craft, who does it and how to do it, of which there seem to be quite a few at the moment. This is a fascinating, delightful and well-written book about all aspects of time and the development of measuring time, as the title suggests, No wonder it was chosen to be ‘Book of the Week’ on BBC’s Radio 4 in what seemed like only seconds after it was published! Rebecca is the only person in the UK to have a PhD in horology and her research and depth of knowledge stands her in good stead for this book.

All the drawings in the book (here and as above) were done by Rebecca’s husband, Craig, and the care, precision, delight, and execution add immensely to the book. They also show the need for the supreme accuracy that is required for those who work with objects that are often less than a mm in size.

What is particularly interesting about the book is the way in which Rebecca weaves her own story and experiences into the means by which counting and recording time has developed. In the first chapter, for example, it is meeting with friend Jim, whose wife is a shepherdess, who explains the effects of nature and the seasons on the times when ewes get pregnant and then giving birth; this emphasises the way in which the yearly cycle has on all of us, even though it is often not always obvious to city dwellers. This also relates to the 44,000 years old Lebombo bone (see image) which has scratched markings on it that are thought to reflect and represent the days of the lunar month and the monthly cycle – perhaps a degree of sophistication at that time which many hadn’t fully appreciated.

Rebecca considers both the development of watches and a number of special watches such as this lion watch which some believe to have been owned by Mary, Queen of Scots, and was presented to her by her first husband, Francis II, King of France. This watch was then given to Mary Seton, one of the ‘four Marys’ who accompanied the Queen to France and then back to Scotland. It was said to have been given to Mary Seton on the Queen’s execution, but was this actually the case?

Should watchmakers and repairers leave any sign of their work on watches? This is similar to calligraphy which is rarely signed. Decades later it is often difficult to work out who was responsible for great works of art. Rebecca was told never to leave a trace, but this person inadvertently left a finger print here on the back of an enamelled watch. (Can you see it, just under the word ‘Wilson’?) Wouldn’t it be interesting to know who this person was and at what stage they were involved in making the watch?

One of my favourites, photographed by Andy Pilsbury, as indeed all the photographs are in the book, is this watch which is part of a chatelaine, worn by a housekeeper or someone in charge of a large house. What a lucky housekeeper to have such a wonderful instrument as part of her daily duties to refer to every day.

I have had such pleasure reading this book, and enjoyed every moment as stories both of Rebecca’s own experiences, and the history of watchmaking are revealed, and the art and craft of watchmaking are interleaved with the history and development of watches. I cannot recommend this book highly enough – buy one for yourself and one or two more for those who you may think would also be fascinated, and those really difficult people (uncles, aunts, cousins, brothers) who are difficult to buy for – you won’t regret it!