Caroline's MoD Scroll
The Final Copy
This is almost a year since I've made this scroll. I found these photos sitting on my phone, and I decided to upload them to my site.
I received this assignment for this peerage scroll due at Pennsic. I didn't know much about the recipient at the time, so I had to do some research. At the time that I received the commission, the recipient was already aware that they were going to receive this award. I was able to work with them and communicate with them, which helped me a lot.
Some of the requests that I received from the recipient:
Incorporate cats somewhere into the scroll
Hide a sundial in it (inside joke)
Words by Jehan LeBlanc
Perfection is the refinement of all arts
The prize is only in eminence
Which begets example and admiration
And yet, through the noble art of defense
As fierce and bloody in execution,
may we see ones diligent application
Art meets Practice and the Master is born
When intentions meet; Superior skill will win out over brawn
Sharp wits, a calm temper, and a patient hand
are all signs of a mind keen as the rapier they employ
Cunning and deadly Our subject Caroline of Burgundy has a keen mind indeed
Through trials and adversity she perfects her craft and hones her steel
Through wise counsel she inspires and empowers all who seek to wield the sword
For these reasons do We Thomas Byron of Haverford, King by right of arms
And Ariella of Thornbury, Warrior Queen, upon the wise counsel of Our Order
Confirm her as a member of the Order of The Masters of Defense.
Done the Tenth day of August A.S, Fifty Seven, At the Great Pennsic War.
The Start
Honestly, I had no idea what I would be doing with this scroll so I just started to randomly throw down elements on a page until I came up with something that was visually appealing.
Caroline's Device
The recipient sent me a copy of her device to use in the project. Her blazon is: "Argent, in saltire two rapiers sable between four roses gules barbed vert." This means that her heraldic colors are: black, silver, red and green.
I wanted to incorporate all of those colors into this project.
Illuminated initial capital letter from miniature from the Treaty of Medicine by Hildebrand from Florence, 1356, manuscript, Italy 14th Century. Lisbon, Biblioteca Da Ajuda (Library)
Adding the Elements
I took inspiration from this book on Illuminated Letters by Margaret Morgan. I wanted something fun and playful to put in the spot that I could somehow use to incorporate the cat element. I knew that I wanted a gilded capital letter with white work, and eventually decided on the letter P with some cute birds nestled within.
I used the techniques found in the Italian Treaty of Medicine found on the left-hand page as inspiration.
I asked my Pelican mentor for inspiration for the Knight's helmet and device. He referred me to his Kingdom's heraldry page to see if I can be inspired. I picked out a cute knight's helmet with a torse design and put a cat on top of her helmet. This was not as a period heraldic display even though it could be but more as a joke about the playful nature of cats.
I wrapped everything with her master of defense collar, then put a medallion on the end.
I consulted with the nearest herald I could find at Herald's Point at Pennsic. Per the heralds, this was a period-appropriate design.
Last Judgement C by Lorenzo Monaco (Italy, 1406-1407) from the New York Met.
Adding the Golden Suns and Vines
I used the sun and sunburst/vines elements from this miniature by Lorenzo Monaco for the Camaldolese convent of Santa Maria degli Angeli, Florence made in Italy 1406-1407. I picked this piece because I felt that it balanced the scroll out nicely with the other elements.
Bastarda Calligraphy
The hand I chose for this piece was Bastarda. Bastarda is one of the hands belonging to the blackletter family and was commonly used in France, the Burgundian Netherlands, and Germany during the 14th and 15th centuries. This hand was the popular court script by the Dukes of Burgundy in the period.
I chose this hand for this project because of the recipient. It felt like too much of a golden opportunity to pass up for a person receiving an award with a name like Caroline of Burgundy. I also felt like it was most appropriate for the project, and the recipient loved how it looked.
I didn't use the exact hand I have featured on the left, but I used most of the letters from it. I found that piece on Pintrest. I only used it because I had no other resources on hand due to my hasty packing job.
I did other variations for the letters that were more period appropriate for this project. I felt that several of the capital letters in the sample piece I found were too modern.
Materials Used
Bristol paper
not period; this type of paper was made in the 1800s. I used this paper because my primary medium for this project was ink and gold with a little paint. This would be the most appropriate use for this kind of paper. The period-appropriate medium would have been parchment, but that was too expensive for me to afford. I used what I had available.
Feather quill (obviously period)
Micron pigment pens in various sizes filled with archival ink
not a period tool, I use them to make nice and pretty lines. It saves my sanity when attempting to apply really fine lines, and guarantees a greater degree of success for me to achieve the results that I want over other tools
Pencil and erasers (these are period tools)
Ruler
23 kt gold leaf, and leafing kit (contains gesso, bole, gum arabic)
not period, I used 23 kt gold instead of the common 24kt gold used in period. I did this because it's impossible for the human eye to tell the difference between 23 kt and 24 kt gold, but the cost for the 23kt gold was considerably lower than the 24kt gold.
mostly not period, my gilding kit is from Kolner Instacoll, I used this kit because it's the most forgiving in unpredictable weather. Gilding is a weather-sensitive activity. Too or too little humidity, heat, and cold will affect how the gold adheres to my page. I did not have the time to wait for ideal atmospheric conditions to work on this project. For the small areas of flat gilding, I used gum arabic, which is a period technique/tool.
Paint brushes in various sizes
not period, these were cheap Walmart art brushes made out of some unknown material. I had them because it was what was available
Dr.Ph. Martin's Black ink, gold mica ink, red ink, blue ink archival inks
not period, I need to use archival inks to keep them from failing over time
Egg tempera paints (these are period tools, made by me with pigments and egg yolks)
Layout Complete
Starting to Apply the Gilding
After 4 hours, I decided that the weather conditions were about perfect for gilding. So I stopped calligraphy and began to work on the gilded capital letter. After applying the Instacoll, I decided against the relatively flat gilded look in the extant. The extant features fine dots and lines along the border of the gilding. I didn't have a super sharp pin or equivalent tool with me on hand to create this effect. Instead, I used a nearby seam ripper to cut swirls into the gesso layer for texture. This created a nice, swirly effect that works well with the rest of the piece.
Photo courtesy of Caroline's Facebook page.
And then there were cats...
I knew nothing about Caroline before I started working on this project. Using my normal modus operandi, I started to secretly look through her photos to see what kind of things she liked.
Oh boy... does she like cats.
So I knew that I had to add cats.
Then came the hard decision to try and figure out which cats I should include. Naturally, I had to try and fit them all.
Template 1
I found this template online of cat silhouettes to use on the piece.
Template 2
The struggle to draw proper cat ears is REAL.
I struggled with this one. Getting cat ears drawn correctly is HARD. I ended up consulting with two different vets to help me figure out how to fix this. Ultimately, the ears needed to point forward and not backwards.
And then it started...
This is where I started to get a little carried away with the cat drawings. I noticed that there was too much space between the word "Defense" and the edge of the page. So I started to draw cats in there.
More cats...
As I came to learn from various members of her fencing family, Caroline has a particular fondness for cats. So I just kept going with the theme of cats. Then I started to add in cat toys on the side.
Felt Uninspired
I was starting to feel pretty run down. At this point, I was spending almost all day working on this project instead of having fun with my friends. I picked up this medallion to keep me inspired. It also made a great fidget tool.
Working Late into the Night
While working on this project, I ended up working from dawn until dusk. Sometimes, I worked past that and had to work under lamp light.
Applying the Gold
This is me applying pieces of gold to the page. The pieces of pink paper scattered throughout are pieces of transfer paper. I use them to press the gold leaves into place and polish them. This is not a documentable, period technique because gold made today is packaged with sheets of transfer paper sandwiched between the sheets to keep them from sticking during transport. Transfer paper is a relatively recent invention. I use transfer paper to polish the gold into place because it was conveniently available. In period, swatches of silk would be commonly used.
Starting to Paint
I forgot to gild the sundial and decided to paint it instead. I think it worked well because the kitty in the bottom right-hand corner is also painted with the same gold paint.
I also started to paint the piece at this stage.
The Birds
By the time that I got to the stage of painting the birds, I was 17 hours in deep, deprived of sleep and exhausted. I had already met heat exhaustion and was fighting off recurrent migraines from the heat.
I had no idea what I was going to do while painting these birds because I made the capital letter red to match Caroline's colors. I now needed to balance out the red with something. I was about to paint the birds brown when these cute little blue robins came out of the grass and started to run all over the place. I had never seen anything like them, so I tried to take a photo. They ended up escaping before I could catch a photo. But, I decided to paint them.
A year later, I learn that they're a non-native species of robin common to the Indian subcontinent. They're known as Indian Blue Robins.
Final Thoughts
It's been a while since I've worked on this scroll, so I'm going to summarize all my thoughts together from what I can remember and from my notes. Overall, this was one of my favorite pieces. It's less historically accurate because it would be a struggle to find any other document like it, but it's unique to the recipient. Ultimately, that was the most important aspect of this project.
This entire project screams anachronism, and I love it.
Time constraints
Why? I was supposed to have finished this scroll assignment a week earlier. Instead, I was thrown out of the house by my landlord. I spent that entire week out and looking for a new place to stay. He gave me a few days to GTFO. Not the best environment to work in.
No clear plan going into this project
Why? This was both a good and a bad thing. I loved the organic aspects of it because I just put what I -felt- should go there. I had the full support of the recipient to do so. I used different elements and techniques from the same time frame so it would have a cohesive look. Many of the elements in this scroll are Italian, such as the hand, the rapiers, and the marginalia. Other aspects, the knight's helmet, collar, and medallion I borrowed from British/English sources.
Working in all sorts of weird weather conditions on site
Why? A lot of the techniques I used on this scroll project would make some scribes cringe. I was out in the heat, wind, high humidity, and thunder storms while trying to gild and paint a scroll. Overall, I think I did pretty well considering I did it under the confines of a tent.
Mental state affects my ability to make art
Why? Because of what happened in the two weeks leading up to Pennsic, I ended up pushing everything to the back burner while I dealt with finding a new place to live. I wasn't in the best mental space to work on my scroll, and I knew it. I was so unmotivated that my mentors grounded me from everything until I finished it.
I should have added a golden border around the piece
Why? Now that I look at my extant from the New York Met, I really should have placed a gold border around the piece.
I should have added more stippling to the top part of the scroll
Why? A year after this project, I'm looking at this scroll and I feel like it would have looked nicer with more stippling on top. I didn't add it in at the time because I wasn't in the best mindset to make good design decisions, and the person near me said that it felt too busy.
Epilogue
It's not very often that I actually get to add photos of my pieces in their frames. I'm grateful that Caroline forwarded me these photos.
Special thanks to the following people for the help they gave me while working on this project:
Eleanor of Grey for use of her camp to work in during all those late nights
My Pelican, Bjar the Blue for grounding me until I got my work done
To Gytha for making sure that I got my work done and chasing me off the field
To Eli for keeping me company on so many of those nights, stopping by and spending time with me
On the wall!
I love the frame that she chose. It's very simple. Elegant.
