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Wax Seal Shaping Form

yachtsilverswan

By yachtsilverswan
in Paper and Pen Paraphernalia

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yachtsilverswan Collectors Item

yachtsilverswan

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I've ordered a new bespoke signet ring from Dexter, and am looking forward to using the seal on personal correspondence.

 

I've noticed a common problem with wax seals is creating a symmetrically round or oval wax puddle.

 

On an early episode of The Tudors, the Pope was issuing an Encyclical or a Papal Bull. The scribe put a round metal form (like a cookie cutter) onto the parchment, and then poured the melted wax into the round form. Without removing the round form, the Papal Seal was pressed into the pool of wax. Then both the Papal Seal and the round metal form were removed, creating a perfectly round seal.

 

What are these guide forms called, and where can I find one?

Ray

Atlanta, Georgia

 

Pilot Namiki Vanishing Point with Richard Binder ItaliFine 0.9mm/F Nib

Faber Castell's Porsche Design with Gold & Stainless Mesh in Binderized CI Broad nib

Visconti LE Divina Proporzione in Gold with Binderized CI nib

David Oscarson Valhalla in gray (Thor) with Broad Binderized CI nib

Michel Perchin LE Blue Serpent (reviewed) with Binderized CI nib

Montblanc 149 in Medium Binderized CI nib

Montblanc Pope Julius II 888 Edition (reviewed) in Bold Binderized CI nib

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beak Collectors Item

beak

Posted
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No idea where to buy, but what about making from suitable sized scrap of copper pipe.....

Sincerely, beak.

 

God does not work in mysterious ways – he works in ways that are indistinguishable from his non-existence.

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oakm NOS (New Old Stock)

oakm

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No idea where to buy, but what about making from suitable sized scrap of copper pipe.....

 

 

Great idea. I am going to make something similar when I get a chance.

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yachtsilverswan Collectors Item

yachtsilverswan

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Thanks everyone - great ideas.

 

My signet ring is oval, so I'll have the copper ring formed in a similar oval, about two or three millimeters wider than the dimensions on the ring face. Copper is pretty easy to bend and shape.

 

I'm still intent on finding the proper name for this little tool. During the Renaissance, everything had a name - every tool, every process, every adornment - particularly so within the high culture of the Vatican.

Ray

Atlanta, Georgia

 

Pilot Namiki Vanishing Point with Richard Binder ItaliFine 0.9mm/F Nib

Faber Castell's Porsche Design with Gold & Stainless Mesh in Binderized CI Broad nib

Visconti LE Divina Proporzione in Gold with Binderized CI nib

David Oscarson Valhalla in gray (Thor) with Broad Binderized CI nib

Michel Perchin LE Blue Serpent (reviewed) with Binderized CI nib

Montblanc 149 in Medium Binderized CI nib

Montblanc Pope Julius II 888 Edition (reviewed) in Bold Binderized CI nib

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fuchsiaprincess Donor Pen

fuchsiaprincess

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I want one!!!

http://i1027.photobucket.com/albums/y331/fuchsiaprincess/Fuchsiaprincess_0001.jpg http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/036/2/2/Narnia_Flag_by_Narnia14.gif

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kiavonne Antique

kiavonne

Posted
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Since you are getting another seal from Dexter, do you think they might know what the name of that wax form/tool might be? Or I wonder if it wasn't something Tudors thought up for their pope. I've never seen or heard of one before. Interesting as it sounds, I like the small shape inconsistencies when using my seals. Just seems less formal, more personal.

 

I hope you are going to share pictures of your new seal when it arrives! Dexter is the best.

Scribere est agere.

To write is to act.

___________________________

Danitrio Fellowship

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yachtsilverswan Collectors Item

yachtsilverswan

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...Or I wonder if it wasn't something Tudors thought up for their pope. I've never seen or heard of one before...

 

Well if Kiavonne has not heard of these molds, then they likely no longer exist. Kiavonne has more experience than most of us with wax seals, their design and use, and their history.

 

I do think these molds were once commonplace, and not just an invention of the Director of The Tudors, though the series certainly took liberties with history - for example Peter O'Toole's wonderful portrayal of Pope Paul III actually covered events that transpired under the reigns of both Pope Clement VII and Pope Paul III.

 

Here is a photograph from the Vatican Archives of the letter to His Holiness Pope Clement VII asking for the annulment of His Majesty King Henry VIII's marriage to HRH Catherine of Aragon. The seals of many of the Peers of England were affixed to draping ribbons extending beneath the parchment, and as described by the Vatican Archivist, each seal was molded in a tin casket to create and maintain the shape of the seal. In fixing seals to ribbons, the tin caskets remained part of the seal, whereas in the Papal Bull shown on The Tudors, the metal mold was removed once the impression was formed - but this shows that Renaissance scribes were using tin molds to create wax seals.

 

http://asv.vatican.va/en/doc/1530.htm

 

http://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr131/yachtsilverswan/1530.jpg

 

"Parchment, mm 950x458; open envelope on which (dark red) ribbons are sewn, bearing 85 seals of just as many signers of the document. The seals, in red wax, nearly all navette-shaped, are contained in tin caskets.

ASV, A. A., Arm. I‑XVIII, 4098 A (XC); detail of the seals (XCI)"

-From the Vatican Archives description

Edited by yachtsilverswan

Ray

Atlanta, Georgia

 

Pilot Namiki Vanishing Point with Richard Binder ItaliFine 0.9mm/F Nib

Faber Castell's Porsche Design with Gold & Stainless Mesh in Binderized CI Broad nib

Visconti LE Divina Proporzione in Gold with Binderized CI nib

David Oscarson Valhalla in gray (Thor) with Broad Binderized CI nib

Michel Perchin LE Blue Serpent (reviewed) with Binderized CI nib

Montblanc 149 in Medium Binderized CI nib

Montblanc Pope Julius II 888 Edition (reviewed) in Bold Binderized CI nib

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kiavonne Antique

kiavonne

Posted
Posted

Ok, so I'm curious, now.

 

Here is a tidbit about using forms or molds that kind of look permanent (scroll down a little): http://www.swordmark.com/waxexamples.html

 

Unfortunately, I haven't turned up anything on the molds or rings that were removed.

Scribere est agere.

To write is to act.

___________________________

Danitrio Fellowship

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