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A Rare Medieval Burnishing Tooth in the Museum of Writing, London

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2008

Alan E Cole  and
R A Rosenfeld
Alan E Cole
Affiliation:
Institute of English Studies, University of London, Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU, UK. E-mail: .
R A Rosenfeld
Affiliation:
Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 59 Queen's Park Crescent East, Toronto, ON, Canada, M5S 2C4. E-mail: .
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Abstract

Many of the tools commonly used in book production in the later Middle Ages have proved remarkably elusive in the archaeological record. Thousands of extant manuscript pages are decorated with gold leaf, yet no examples of the tools used in gilding have been reported. An exception is a bovid tooth in the collections of the Museum of Writing (London). The tooth bears marks consonant with modification as a burnisher, appropriate wear marks and traces of gold leaf. The object was first recorded in association with other scribal tools. The tooth is illustrated and described, its provenance and the potential significance of the assemblage to which it belonged are discussed, and it is put into a larger craft context by surveying the range of tasks for which tooth burnishers served, the preferred animal sources and the chronological range of the practice.

Type
Shorter Contributions
Information
The Antiquaries Journal , Volume 86 , September 2006 , pp. 356 - 372
Copyright
Copyright © The Society of Antiquaries of London 2006

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