IT'S INTERESTING

The paintbrush is the sharpest weapon on earth (Chinese saying)
THE HISTORY AND MANUFACTURE OF PAINTBRUSHES - PART 3

The article below entitled "The history and manufacture of occidental artist brushes" is a thesis written by Ms Lulu Welther and is published by courtesy of the Institute of Museum Studies at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart.

The work is divided into three main parts:
1. Definition of terms arid historic overview
2. Material science from a historical and contemporary viewpoint
3. The history of brush manufacture and brush craftsmanship

German bristle was considered to be soft and of medium strength, and was available in white, grey and dun more often than black. Common types included "Hessian Country Bristle and "Bavarian Rough Bristle". Pure white or black bristle was dearer than red, yellow or dun.

Until the mid 18th century it was commonplace in Germany to drive the hogs into the woods, where the animals rooted for their food in the ground under the supervision of a herdsman. This practice was also common in Russia until the introduction of collective farming in 1917. Exposed to the elements, hogs which were kept out in the open grew rougher and longer bristle, and at the age of 3 to 4 delivered up to two kilos of usable bristles, which were famous for their quality.

However, as the practice of confining the animals to a warm pig shed became more widespread, the quality and quantity of the bristles began to diminish.

In 1784 Kruenitz writes: 'it is not, as some people believe, those hogs which have been fattened in the woods that deliver the best quality of bristle, because the tips frequently split as the hogs forage under bushes. The bristles grown by pigs kept in sheds are better. (Was he perhaps unaware of the flagged tip phenomenon?)

During the 18th century Russian bristles began to be imported to Germany. The bristle trade was not new to Russia; bristles had been exported to England since the beginning of the 15th century.

From 1740 export bristles were sorted by quality. In the early 19th century English bristle traders established the first bristle dressing shops in St. Petersburg, where the bristles were prepared, i.e. dressed, in four different ways:
1) the Russian way: carefully sorted
2) the Polish way: superficially sorted
3) the Tiktin way: sorted, washed and dried
4) the Parisian way: sorted, boiled and dried (=dressed)

When the centrally planned economy system was established in the Soviet Union after 1917, the bristles were collected, dressed under state supervision and exported by "Gostorg", a name derived from "Gosudarstvenya" = State, Government and 'Torgovlya" = Trading company.

However, pigs are not bred solely for their bristle. Today, they are fattened for slaughter within 9 months and the focus on meat production has compromised the quantity and quality of bristle available.

Bristle today

China dominates the bristle trade. Chinese bristles were first introduced to the American market in 1859. They are designated according to their place of origin, their trade centre or where they are dressed.
The following are the best known:

Tientsin

Black and grey, fine structure, small head, very straight and soft, slender diameter and a small flag.
Use: artists' brushes

Hankow

Medium strength bristle, small head, pointed taper, long flag, very stiff

Chungking

High grade black, white, and premium quality: brown. Much longer than the "Tientsin", and only slightly conical. Very stiff, longish flag and very shiny.
Use: bristle artist brushes

Bristles are a science unto themselves. Many types are found on the market and good knowledge of their individual quality features is necessary if mistakes are to be avoided Many companies make up their own bristle mixtures which are tailored to their individual requirements.

Since the 1950's China, too, has converted to large scale meat production which means that the pigs are slaughtered at an earlier age. Thus, long bristles have become rarer.

Bristle dressing

Bristle dressing is a process whereby the material is processed from the raw state to a ready-to-use state.

Sorting the raw bristles

Upon delivery, the bristles are sorted by color, white, grey and black, whereby different lengths are taken into account

Shredding

The pre-sorted material is placed in a shredder to separate the tuft of bristles being held together by particles of skin Any dust and other residues are also removed.

Washing

The pre-cleaned material is then placed in a soaking tub where chemicals are added to prepare it for washing. The consistency of the water is crucial, and the softer the water the milder the softening agents used. The bristles are washed in a washing machine and subsequently centrifuged.

Bristle alignment

The bristles are aligned in corn machines, i.e. laid parallel to each other.

Combing

Wool from the undercoat and hair is combed out.

Straightening

Because bristles have a natural curve the 4 to 5 cm bristle bundles are tied tightly with string in order to reduce or eliminate it.

Boiling

Next, the bristles are placed in a vat and boiled for two hours. This softens the cortex and at the same time cleans and disinfects the bristles.

Drying

Shock drying the bristles has the effect that the cells of the cortex harden in their changed shape. Once dry, the bristles are straight. After they have been boiled the bristles are laid on trays and kiln dried at 120°C. The temperature has to be monitored carefully, because if it is over-dried the bristle becomes brittle.

Mixing

The dried bundles are tied, tapped, combed, tapped again and than "drawn". To hand mix the bristles, they are placed on the workbench in thin layers and one handful of bristle is placed on the top of the other. Mixing usually takes place in a machine. This offers the advantage that the material is even in color and strength.

As each different size and taper of bristle is unbundled it is placed with all bristles aligned in the same direction on a mixing machine. This machine has a series of belts that move back and forth, folding the bristles in and shuffling them together. This occurs as the bristle drops off the belt and is laid onto another belt with another set of bristle, etc. until the bristle is completely mixed (but still aligned in the same direction). This mixing takes about ten minutes.

Picking the bristle

After the bristles have been arranged they are sorted out by length; if done manually, this work is carried out by a specialist. A small tuft is held in one hand together with a small stick as a measure, a knife is held in the other hand. Using the knife the craftsman picks out the longest bristles. These are called "tips". He than pulls out the next length and repeats this till he reaches the shortest length, called base. Plucking is done in 5 mm steps.

Today picking is mostly also completed mechanically. Depending on the requirement the material is "pinched" down to a length of 50 to 55 mm. The mixed bristles are put into a machine that pinches off the proper amount of bristle (determined by weight) to form the size of brush under production.

Flirting

Flirting is the process whereby any loose bristle is removed. Done by hand, a knife is drawn over the bristle tips. While the tapered ends will slide over it, the thick bristle end (head) will catch on it. In mechanical flirting, the bristle bundles are placed tip down onto a rotating perforated metal plate. The heads catch in the so-called sieve and are pulled out.

Packing

The bristles are either tied together with string or a cuff is placed around them.

(Will be continued...)

THE HISTORY AND MANUFACTURE OF PAINTBRUSHES - PART 3

Hair

Hair is subdivided into two categories, namely coarse or long hair and fine hair. Coarse or long hair is harvested from the mane or tail of the horse and from the tail tufts of cattle.

Fine hair comes from various breeds of pelted animals, and according to German standard DIN 68346 must have a natural tip. Butt portions of hair (the lower portion of the hair without the tip) are not classed as fine hair.

Hair is a slender, elastic, filamentous projection or outgrowth of the epidermis of an animal, It projects from the epidermis, though it grows from hair follicles deep in the dermis.

Most types of hair have a natural taper from the butt or flesh end to the tip, while others, such as horse or human hair, may be cylindrical, in which case they do not have a tip.

Hair consists of an inner cortex, comprising spindle-shaped cells, and an outer sheath, called the cuticle. Within each cortical cell are the many fibrils, running parallel to the fiber axis, and between the fibrils is a softer material called the matrix. It grows from a hair follicle. The cuticle is responsible for much of the mechanical strength of the hair fibre. It consists of scale-shaped layers.

Human hair typically has 6-8 layers of cuticle. Wool has only one, and other animal hair may have many more layers.

An animal's coat usually consists of the following types of hair:

Sensory hair

This is highly sensitive hair with a receptor role growing around the eyes, from the snout or on the paws, stomach or flanks of most mammals.

Guard hair

Only the guard hairs play a role in brush making, more specifically the guard hairs from the tail of the winter pelt; however sometimes the body hair may be used, and in other cases hair is derived from the ears of cattle.

Ground hair or undercoat

The top layer of hair consisting of longer, thicker straight shafts of hair that stick out through the undercoat. For most mammals this is usually the visible layer and contains most of the pigmentation.

This is the bottom layer consisting of wool hairs which tend to be shorter, flattened, curly and denser than the top layer.

Historical hair

Unfortunately, it is not known from which animal the hair in the brushes found at Altamira was derived. In Ancient China and in Japan hair from the hind was used, as well as from the racoon, fox, marten, hare, cat and goat. It is also reported that in 4th century China rat hair was used.

In 994, Heraclius describes brushes made from donkey hair, and in 1100 AD, in his work "Schedula Diversarum Artium".

The monk Theophilus von Helmarshausen describes brushes made from the hair of the tail of the marten and the 'grisium', the squirrel, the cat and the mane of a donkey. The term 'grisium" is no longer found in modern encyclopedias, and probably refers to the grison (grison vittatus).

Cenninni holds that only the hair from the tail of the squirrel is suitable for filling a brush. Other works mention badger tail hair, pointing out that only the hair from the tip of the tail and not from the flank of the animal should be used, while still others prefer the hair from the ankle of the ox or from the maxilla (upper jaw) of the mule.

Valentin Boltz v. Ruffach, in 1549, mentions squirrel and polecat tails.
In 1620, de Mayerns mentions brushes made from otter hair and squirrel hair. In 1633 Vicente Carducho refers to squirrel, badger, mongoose, goat and dog hair. In 1649, Francisco Pacheco speaks of goat, mongoose and sable hair.
Antonio Palomino y Velasco, in 1724, recommends using the hair from the tail of the goat, dog, squirrel, cat, the mongoose and especially the badger.
J.M. Croecker, in 1729, refers to the tail of the polecat and the stoat and, like Valentin Bolz, the squirrel.
The term "fish hair" is given different interpretations. Berger translates "poil de poisson" as "fish (otter) hair. Of the Spanish term "peje", Veliz observes that it might denote the shape of the brush, which is reminiscent of a fish. Merrifield suggests that "fish hair" may refer to seal hair.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the paintbrush manufacturers Comet referred to a mixture of goat, bear and polecat hair as a "fish brush". However, it is also surmised that this term might be a simple malapropism of the old English word 'fitch' for polecat.

Hair today

Kolinsky

Kolinsky is a particular strain of mink belonging to the famly of Mustelidae, a group of mammals possessing a musk gland that lived at one time in the Kola Peninsula in the western part of Russia and was the source for the finest red sable brushes.

Today, there are no kolinskies left in the area. This animal is virtually extinct and is, therefore, a protected species in Russia. The name "kolinsky,' however, is currently used to denote the hair acquired from the Asian mink, Mustela siberica that lives in Siberia, northern China, and Korea, and which is also called the Siberian Mountain Weasel, Siberian Weasel or Himalayan Weasel - a rust colored relative of the weasel measuring 48 to 66cm from head to tail, with a bushy tail length from 12 to 25.5cm. M. sibirica is pale brown on the back, gradually changing to a paler, yellowish brown below.

The guard hairs from the tail of the winter pelt of the male kolinsky provide the very best quality hair for the manufacture of artists' paintbrushes. On the butt portion, the individual hairs are light in color turning slightly darker toward the tip. Kolinsky hair is very fine in quality and at the same time, has strong sharp points and great elasticity. It is only slightly conical and has a natural thickness at the belly tapering off to a fine tip at the end. Because its strength and spring are concentrated between the belly and the tip, when it is mounted, half the length of the hair is contained in the ferrule.

Because of their strength, spring, and absorbency, high-quality kolinsky brushes are considered to be the very best for watercolor painting, an art which requires that a brush hold liquid for as long as possible and retain a fine point when wet.

One gram of kolinksy hair is more expensive than gold, whereby long hair lengths (50 mm) are considerably more expensive than short hair lengths (25 mm). Lengths of 55 mm upward are not only extremely rare, but also lose in quality.

Kolinsky hair is sometimes mixed with weasel hair as filler, and these mixtures are not only difficult for the layman to recognize, but frequently for the expert, too.

Use:

• sign-writing
• lettering brushes
• watercolor brushes
• fine oil painting brushes

(Will be continued...)

Published with permission of www.brosapres.com