Author Archives: Eirny

16th Century Glass Buttons

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Today we seldom give much thought to how our clothes are fastened together. Velcro, zippers, ties, two-way zippers, reversible zippers, and buttons. Sometimes you can learn the most by studying the simplest technology, like buttons.

I have been researching all kinds of buttons including wooden buttons, fabric covered buttons, self buttons, and in particular, glass buttons, for years. I make 1500’s reproduction glass buttons to sell in my shop, and I’m always looking for more information – new finds, old finds, new academic articles, newspaper stories, old books, museum displays –  well, you get the idea. The original button that I based my glass buttons on was bought for me by my husband as a surprise. Later, I discovered several more glass buttons, incorrectly identified as gaming pieces. All of these buttons came from a source in the Netherlands. The buttons look black (but are actually very dark purple), with a U-shaped iron shank. Virtually the same exact black glass buttons are found in England, Germany, Maine, and Virginia – a pleasant discovery for me.

Maine and Virginia, you say?

When we are searching for late 16th century artifacts, it is important not to overlook the earliest American colonies. Both Jamestown I and Popham Colony – also known as Fort St. George – were founded in 1607 (just post period!), while St. Augustine, Florida was founded in 1565. Since these sites were inhabited primarily by working people, common, every day, artifacts will predominate.  The big advantage to finding locations in North America is that the sites will probably be excavated using American techniques. Now, exactly what do I mean by that apparent bias? You often encounter statements in British journals that say something like “We don’t find many of these buttons, pins, etc., but we would probably find more if we sieved the dirt.” What they are referring to is the fact that historically they didn’t put the most artifact-rich portions of a dig through a fine sieve to catch the tiny artifacts that are easy to miss. ARRGGH! I’ve seen the results of this sieving myself. Dirt that I would have sworn was completely free of any artifacts, was subsequently washed on a window screen. The process yielded sewing pins and seed beads! Anyway, back to black glass buttons… There are black glass buttons, just like the ones from the Netherlands, at both of the Virginia and Maine colonial sites.

Now I have seen the glass buttons from Maine online before and they appeared to have a decorative swirl on the front. Well, in short, the swirl isn’t there. The swirl is an optical artifact. Now what the heck does that mean? The swirl is either a feature that is created by a combination of the lighting and the digitizing process of the original photos, or it is the camera picking up “bubble trails” in the glass. OK, so what is this about bubbles? Well, tiny bubbles in the glass can affect the way the glass transmits or absorbs light. So a swirl of bubbles inside the glass might show up in the camera but not be visible to the naked eye.

Some concerted effort to discover the location of buttons from either of these sites yielded exciting news for me personally. The Virginia glass buttons were contained in storage, but the Maine glass buttons are on display. Augusta, Maine is only a short 650 mile trip from our summer SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) event. I actually saw the buttons from the Popham Colony in person in the Maine State Museum. The display is well lit with the buttons displayed in a conveniently close to the glass position. The front of the buttons is smooth, just like the ones that I make.  I have also had extensive communications with one of the Archaeologists from Jamestown, and their glass buttons are exactly the same as the ones found at Popham.

A brief article on the Popham Colony. As a bonus, at the bottom of the page is a link to an amazing list of museum websites from all over the world. I haven’t been to all of them yet, but some of them are really awesome. The website with Popham artifact photos seems to have disappeared. Examples of some of the later period glass buttons found in the Virginia area. There is essentially no difference between these black glass buttons and the pre-1600 versions. Some have iron shanks and some have brass shanks, but the size range and form of the glass is the same.

Since I did my original research on pre-1600’s glass buttons, more and more of them are beginning to appear in the digitized libraries of museums and research organizations around the world. Great Britains’ Portable Antiquities Scheme now contains at least two glass buttons that are probably pre-1600. Here is a pale yellow glass button. And here is a bright blue glass button .

In case you are wondering what my version of black 1500’s glass buttons look like here is an entire page of different sized buttons.  My Cobalt Blue glass buttons closely resemble the blue button in the Portable antiquities Scheme

I hope that you enjoyed this brief view of pre-1600’s glass buttons. Many people are familiar with Renaissance metal buttons, but little has been written about the glass buttons that were made and used during this time-frame.

 

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Simple Subtelties Can Be Subtle

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Subtlety – today we think of the word as the quality or state of being subtle. Our Medieval ancestors knew a subtlety as a cooked dish that looked like one thing but was something else.

There are many little “touches” that you can use to make a period feast prettier and more authentic-looking. In a previous article I discussed making sugar plate and candied violets and then using them to create an enjoyable and unique, by modern standards, subtlety. Another project comes immediately to mind – something simple with an easy culinary joke.

“White mice” is a simple Roman recipe – an easy and inexpensive way to serve eggs. When we served this dish people were already getting the idea that some of the things we were doing were jokes, or a play on words. The first tray of “mice” was announced and placed on the dayboard (snack) table. People thought they were cute and they were eaten fairly quickly. A couple of our volunteer kitchen staff took pictures. This picture shows a tray of mice with carrots for tails. The sauce boat has not yet been placed on the dish.

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The next tray was announced as having something special about it. People came to see it and many pictures and much laughter ensued. Can you see what is special?

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The answer: Three Blind Mice!

It was really interesting to see how many people really enjoyed the joke. That sort of jest would have been a common part of a medieval feast.

White Mice – (Roman era recipe)

6 hard boiled eggs

12 blanched almonds

whole chives (we also used carrot strips)

cloves or peppercorns

sauce:1/2 tsp ground pepper

1/4 tsp cuminpinch of caraway seeds

small bay leaf

fresh herbs to taste

2 oz dates finely chopped

4 tbs wine vinegar

4 tbs vegetable stock

2 tsp olive oil

Grind pepper, caraway, cumin and bay leaf together in a mortar. Add green herbs tied in a muslin bag, finely chopped dates, vinegar, wine, stock and olive oil. Bring to a boil then simmer gently for 20 minutes to reduce. Remove herb bag. Cut eggs lengthways and place side by side on a serving platter. Place the sliced almonds as ears, cloves or peppercorns as eyes and use the chives as tails. Pour sauce over the mice and serve.

WARNING: Don’t eat these eyes! We chose to put the sauce on the side and allow people to serve themselves. We suggest labels to let folks know what is in a dish. Some of the flavors can be a bit startling to the modern palate.

Another approach to décor for a Medieval feast is embellishment with pastry. There are many Medieval cooking manuals and descriptions of feasts which detail the elaborate constructs of pastry that were often presented at feasts – Gilded and painted presentations of the bakers’ art. A simple, but effective approach to this is to simply use the crust from a pie or tart and make it more decorative through the use of cookie cutters. I am fortunate enough to own cutters designed for pastry dough, but any simple shaped cookie cutters can be used. Simply place the cutouts using your fingers and a knife to fine tune the positioning.

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Pastry in place before baking.

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This is the version for the Head Table. The other tables received a simpler version with fewer cut-outs. The cut-outs were designed so that every slice received a decorative piece of pastry dough.

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This use of extra pastry has now become a tradition in our home. All of the pumpkin pies at Thanksgiving and Christmas are decorated with leaves and acorns.

I hope that this gives you some ideas about how a simple culinary joke or bit of pastry can improve the mood and feel of a feast.

 

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Pre-1600s Toiletry Sets

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DSC_4251Toiletry sets were popularized by the Romans throughout their empire. They became an important part of personal attire for women, and remained popular through the Victorian Age. Pre-1066 women’s sets usually consisted of a pair of tweezers, an ear-spoon, and a toothpick/nail cleaner, or just an ear-spoon and a toothpick/nail cleaner. Some sets also included a small brush – possibly for the application of cosmetics. Late in the Roman Era specialized, and essentially unusable forms of the toiletry set developed that were only intended as a sign of Romanization – the Toiletry Brooch. This was basically a decorative brooch, often enameled, with a  bar that had tiny representations of the various toiletry items hanging from it.

Combination tools appear during the 1500 and 1600’s. They included several forms of tweezer-ear-spoons, and toothpick-ear-spoons. Very inexpensive, poor quality tools, made of wire also appeared at this time and were widely found in areas like London. Individual toiletry items such as a pair of tweezers or a lone ear-spoon are also found, and were probably stored in a small pouch,

Combo tool

Most toiletry sets were made of a copper alloy (bronze), but examples of silver and gold sets do exist.

silver toiletry set

This form of silver toiletry set on a silver chain is appropriate for both Viking and Anglo-Saxon women.

Men commonly carried a pair of tweezers, and sometimes an ear-spoon, in a pouch.

Viking women usually hung their toiletry sets from their brooches, on a chain or string. Anglo Saxon women hung their toiletry sets from their belts. Less commonly, both groups kept their toiletry sets in a pouch, which could be suspended from a belt.

Late 1500’s toiletry sets often included things like bodkins, for lacing clothing, and scissors, for sewing. They were often suspended from elaborate Chatelaines that hung from a belt.

I hope that this brief summary helps you have a better understanding of the nature and origins of toiletry sets.