Parchment is usually made from the inner layers of calf skin, but you can
tell by looking at the pattern and density of hair follicles. It might be
goat or pig, which have larger darker follicles. The goat is very obvious
since the follicles (as I remember) tend to be paired. So it's basically
collagen. I should think someone at the British Museum or the V&A would be
your best bet. Or perhaps someone in the leather trades. There is a firm
which still makes vellum - I haven't got their address handy but will look
it up in the next day or so. I don't know how they're tanned bu I suspect
it's an alum tanning. Spon's Workshop Receipts has stuff like that in it.
What's the nature of the characterisation? What do the people think they
want to know? Is that really what they want to know?!
Julian Vincent
chris smith wrote:
> Dear all,
> I have been given some parchment to characterise. Apparently its not a
> paper sort of material but collagen based, presumably cow skin
> originally.
>
> Does anyone know much about such parchment materials ? Like how they are
> made/processed. Tanning etc ?
>
> Anyone know of a good book with details in ?
>
> Thanks
> Chris Smith
>
> --
> Dr Chris Smith,
> Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering,
> School of Engineering and Computer Science,
> Dept of Engineering, Harrison Building,
> University of Exeter,
> Exeter, Devon,
> EX4 4QF, U.K.
> tel (44) 01392 263652 (or 263615)
> fax (44) 01392 217965
>
> http://www.ex.ac.uk/~mkwadee/eng.research/cws.html
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