Project: Collars of State -Atlantia Officers

sirelesar

Aug 9, 20235 min read

Updated: Mar 3, 2024

Cockleshell collar of the Order of Saint Michael, worn by Charles II d'Amboise in 1507

Introduction:

Livery is a symbol that represents ownership or affiliation. Livery Collars were used in the high middle-ages and later to identify a relationship, ownership, or a held position, usually of high merit5. The livery collar representing a position of title is often referred to as a Collar of State. The earliest recorded collar appearing in the 14th century was the Collar of Esses, associated with John of Gaunt (1340)5. This collar remained in use throughout the War of the Roses by the House of Lancaster. Another such collar is that of the Cockleshell collar of the Order of Saint Michael, worn by Louis XI, Charles II d'Amboise (1473-1511) and others6.

I started a significant casting challenge to create Collars of State for all the Greater and Reporting officers in Atlantia. There are nine collars in all, specifically for the Seneschal, Exchequer, Earl Marshal, Minister of the Lists, Chatelaine, Minister of the Arts, Web Minister, Herald and Chronicler offices. Each collar consists of 14 cockleshell pieces, separated by the Atlantian kingdom symbol of the Horned Seahorse -"Spike". Each collar includes a trefoil connector, supporting an individual badge of the kingdom office. The use of the shell is meaningful in Atlantian symbolism and was inspired by the Cockleshell Collar of the Order of Saint Michael.

Approach:

The period method for creating the metal pieces for these collars would have varied, based upon the necessity to accommodate the undercut of the art piece being reproduced in metal. Undercutting is to cut away material from the underside of an object, leaving an overhanging portion in relief. Casting pieces without undercut can be achieved by Sand Casting or other split-block casting techniques with the split occurring at the widest part of the original form. Split-block casting also allows the original carving or finding to be recovered. The original finding for undercut castings cannot be readily removed from the split block without disturbing the mold and ultimately the final casting. Thus, castings of undercut originals can only be obtained by the Lost Wax Casting (LWC) approach. In the LWC method the original carving is surrounded by an investment that creates a mold that captures the original image. The LWC original must be a material that is able to be melted out of the investment mold. The original has historically been made of wax, tallow or other meltable material that is destroyed when it is melted out of the investment mold, hence the usage of the term Lost Wax Casting. As the back of the shells have an undercut, I have utilized the LWC technique for this project. I have also utilized the LWC process as multiple reproductions are necessary, which can be readily achieved by placing multiple originals within a single mold for reproduction.

Materials:

The intent of use for these collars is for daily wearing of a medieval style livery collar, made to withstand the rigors of SCA use, while having relatively low maintenance properties and cost of base materials. The materials utilized in creating this piece are intended to provide the look used in period while still being rugged and cost effective.

Material Usage	My Materials	Period Materials
The original unrecoverable model sculpture	Castable Resin (Siraya Tech Cast)	Bees Wax1
The Final Cast Material	Silicon Bronze (95% Cu, 4% Si, 1% Mn)	Bronze (4:1 Cu/Tn Varies)1 or Gold or Silver. Pewter and Tin were discouraged.
The Duplication Mold - Investment Materials	Refractory Ceramic Investment (Prestige Oro)	White, thinned clay (porcelin)1 or gesso (gypsum)2

Process for Utilizing these Materials:

Sculptures: The original lost wax sculpture in period would have been made from bees wax1 with very early forms using tallow. The artist would produce the sculpture by carving it by hand, using files, pics and scrapers. On display is an example of an original wax carving for a collar of letters and eagle demonstrating the carving process.

For this project I sculpted the originals with a computer model and created the sculpture on a 3-D printer. The sculptures were modeled using XYZMaker 3D Kit and Chitubox software. I printed the originals using a 3D resin printer (Elegoo Saturn) using a resin specifically for LWC (Siraya Tech Cast). This resin performs like a bees wax and can be completely melted out of the investment mold. I modeled the sculptures for the shell, spike shield, trefoil, and all of the office badges from basic geometrical components that were manipulated, combined and assimilated within the model. Multiple printed originals were placed on a tree to be entombed within an investment form. The originals are melted out of the form, and molten metal formed in their place.

Investment:

The investment is a ceramic material placed around the original sculpture. It can sustain high temperatures without damage when subjected to the LWC burnout process of melting out the wax and when pouring in the molten metal. The common investment material used in period for LWC was white, thinned clay mixed with dung, set to age, then strained to create a slurry slip1. This was used for the initial layers of the mold. Thicker white clay was then used for subsequent layers of the mold. Alternatively, Cellini indicates the use of gesso, or gypsum2. Fundamentally, these are ceramic refractory materials.

For this project I used a commercially available refractory ceramic investment (Prestige Oro) to create the mold. This ceramic is semi-porous which assists in a vacuum casting process. This vacuum casting process aids in the removal of air around the sculpture while applying the investment, and secondarily aids in drawing the molten cast material into the voids within the investment.

Cast Material:

The extant pieces for collars of this sort would have been gold, silver, or bronze3. Bronze is a generic term for a copper-based alloy, with the other constituents being Zinc, Tin, Manganese, Silicon and/or other trace materials. The medieval collars utilizing bronze uses mostly copper and tin in varying ratios. The proportions varied widely between 67 and 95% copper. A common ratio used during the Middle Ages is 4 parts copper to 1 part tin by weight1. This ratio became known as bell metal in later times. However, the stoichiometric ratio not realized until much later is 9:1, giving the best hardness. I used bronze for this project as gold and silver would be too expensive for reenactment purposes. The bronze metal utilized in the casting includes Copper, Silicon and Manganese, giving the bronze a high sheen with minimal repetitive buffing requirements to maintain the sheen of gold.

Conclusion:

This project assisted me in performing large projects with many pieces. This is challenging process, of which I will use in future endeavors.

Bibliography:

1. Hawthorne, John G Theophilus - On Divers Arts The Foremost Medieval Treatise on Painting, Glassmaking and Metalwork Dover Publications, London 1963 ISBN 048623784

2. Ashbee, C.R. – The Treatise of Benvenuto Cellini on Goldsmithing and Sculpture, Kessinger Publishing ISBN 9781428604308

3. Cherry, John - Medieval Craftsmen: Goldsmiths, University of Toronto Press, Toronto 1992 ISBN 0802077110

4. Coss, Peter - Heraldry, Pageantry and Social Display Boydell Press, London 2002 ISBN 0851158501

5. 13. Ward, Matthew J. - The Livery Collar in Late Medieval England and Wales, Boydell and Brewer, 2021 ISBN 9781793276370

6. Portrait of Charles II d'Amboise, Louvre Museum, INV 674 and MR 315