19th Century Artist Materials

[Jeff Prechtel]

Having spent a goodly amount of time
researching period art materials, like the proper colors,
inks, tools and etc. One thing that I haven't been able to
find to my satisfaction are nice proper, period pigment
bottles. Do any of you fellow 19th century artists/corrospondents
know where one could aquire some decent 19th century bottles
suitable for use in storing my pigments?
Outside of continually watching ebay for some, I mean.

This would be for ground pigments, and not the cakes.

Also, what do you Gents, and Ladies use/carry for your art materials...

Depending on who and what period I'm portraying, and if
I'm afield or encamped somewhere, I usually carry my field
sketch book, some charcoal, white conte', graphite or lead
sticks, various brushes, ink in a bottle, and some windsor & newton
water colors, in either cake, ground pigment, or tinned.....again,
depending on time period. These are ensconsed inside my art box,
which can also serves as my field desk.




Thanks
Jeff Prechtel

[nastt]

Jeff,
I have not researched bottles yet, in our group we have one gentlemen Kevin Storms who carries his watercolors and inks he might be able to help. I 'm a pencil skribbler myself.

http://www.kevinstorms.com/

Ezra has a few bottles see link:

http://www.ezrabarnhousegoods.com/testimonials.html

Another Sutler:

http://www.ushist.com/props.htm

nastt
Michael Farnsley
aka Thomas Nast
www.bohemianbrigade.com

[nastt]

Jeff,
Heres another link with a nice inkwell and powdered inks toward the bottom of the page:

http://www.sullivanpress.com/Civil_war.htm#Other_Civil_War_Era_Items_for_Sale


nastt
Michael Farnsley
aka Thomas Nast
www.bohemianbrigade.com

[VIrginia Mescher]

Having spent a goodly amount of time
researching period art materials, like the proper colors,
inks, tools and etc. One thing that I haven't been able to
find to my satisfaction are nice proper, period pigment
bottles.
Thanks
Jeff Prechtel

You might want to look at the book, Art Recreations (1863) in Google Books. There is a chapter on painting with water colors and the equipment and tools needed. While this was mainly written for women, I would think that the basics would apply to anyone.

The only bottle mentioned was one used to carry gum water. They described the water colors as being two kinds, dry cakes and moist colors. The cakes are like those we know today and the moist colors were as they described, "put in little earthen pans, and fitted in to a tin box, with a palette, all complete for painting out of doors or on a table."

In Mackenzie's Five Thousand Receipts (1854), also found in Google Book, there is a chapter on water colors and from what I quickly read, water colors were usually purchased already prepared in cakes. There were directions for using the pigments but they required more than just adding water to them. Some required may additional processes before they were ready to use for painting. The application of lye, vinegar, rain water, or beer, and straining, and boiling were just few of the steps for making some of the colors.

If you were doing oil painting, you might purchase the pigments and grind them yourself and mix the oil for painting but for field sketch work, I would expect that you would be using water colors rather than oils.

In other reading, the plain pigments were purchased just wrapped in paper packets and the artists could grind and prepare them or could purchased them in a more prepared state. I would expect that Windsor Newton would have more information about that topic.

[Jeff Prechtel]

Thanks for the bottle links Nast, I like the Barnhouse inkwells,
will have to pick one up after the holidays....they might be a bit to large
for my field kit, but nice all the same. I have a erathen ware one that I
used for 18th century stuff, so I'm covered there.

Virginia, thank you for the pigment info, additional info is always welcome.

I've done a bit a research on pigments lately, and yes, the watercolors
came in the cake or "pan" form from most of the paint companies Windsor & Newton,
another English, as well as two other French companies, who's names I can't recall.

All offered a variety of brushes, paints (oils & watercolors) inks, paper,
conte`, charcole, easels & etc....much like large mail order art companies do today.
In fact, the "French" filed easel has changed very little from the ones listed in
W&N 1848 catalogue, to what they look like today. In fact Windsor and Newton
offered for sale in the 1848 catalogue, "tinned" tubes of oil paints, they came out,
I want to say, off the top of my head.....around 1838. Tinned tubes of watercolors
weren't available for sale until around the early 1850s. I'm sure it had to do with
not having a way to keep them from drying up inside the tinned tubes.

One thing to keep in mind when putting together a 19th century watercolor
or oil kit, is to research your colors, as they were a bit different then. Some
obviously are the same, while others were quite different. With a little work,
you should be able to some up with a nice, period correct artist kit.

[nastt]

Hey Jeff,
Me again, I just ran out some swell bottles on Carter and Jasper's website:

http://www.carterandjasper.com/amusements.htm#ginkwells

[Jeff Prechtel]

Nastt-

Thanks for the link....
I saw those, those'd work great, and what
a great price too. The Gents at C&J have really
nice things and are very helpful!

-JP