Documentary Source Research for Artists’ Materials
and Techniques : by Ad Stijnman
Definition
A frequent misunderstanding arises concerning documentary source research, based on the assumption that it is simply a matter of identifying and locating historical technical sources describing materials and their use. Although this is in itself an highly demanding activity (requiring skills in library science and multiple languages both old and modern), this is only the beginning of the research. Once sources are located, and their provenance and bibliographic context identified, the technical information within them must then be made accessible. Most importantly, it must be analysed and interpreted within a sound historical context.
Comprehensive collections of recipes and instructions for use cannot be utilised effectively unless specialist knowledge is applied to their analysis. Although experience with multiple sources over a broad time scale lends a great deal to their effective interpretation, the other main component in their analysis, physical reconstructions, is what informs our interpretation of the documents.
For reconstructions to be effective in this role, they must be historically relevant. Every effort must be made to use materials appropriate to the time that the recipe or instructions were written and to its geographical location. Modern so-called equivalents are often processed in ways that make them inappropriate for historical investigations, and as reference materials. This has been true in both the InkCor and Lake-Making projects which required that materials be in keeping with those used in the past.
The relevance of specialised documentary source research
No single historical treatise, handbooks or manual can be seen in isolation. These materials must be located not only physically (some are in rare collections, very difficult to access), but in time and geography. What was a practical recipe for 15th century Florence will not necessarily make sense in another geographical location where materials may have different properties (vis the range of chalks), or may not be available at all.
Early sources are often copies of copies. Tracing their provenance is essential in understanding when & where the information originates. Following the trail of multiple editions of works allows the researcher to track changes and updates as well, which helps establish the introduction of new materials.
In order to be useful, a single recipe is usually only fully interpreted when it is seen in the context of related recipes. Instructions for use are usually incomplete in a single source requiring additional information from associated recipes. Gradually a whole set of instructions for a given activity can be constructed from fragmentary information in a variety of sources.
Source research and reconstructions as reference material
Instrumental analyses of historical oil paintings results in a list of ingredients which are present. This list is also dependent to some extent on initial assumptions by the operator, regarding what materials are expected. If a given material is not under consideration, it can be missed (eg. evidence of flour in ground recipes).
Documentary source research results in a more comprehensive view of what materials were in use and when, which aids in the inital plans for analysis. It also plays a vital role in the interpretation of analytical results, since source research can elucidate the purpose of certain materials and their meaning by explaining workshop practices.
Reconstructions using historicaly relevant materials and based on authentic and representative recipes can demonstrate workshop pratice, illuminate fragmentary documentary information, and ultimately serve as reference material for further analyses.
Reconstructions
Aside from acting as simple reference materials, reconstructions can also be used to test the strengths and weaknesses of a given recipe or practice during preparation and application and then in the long term. Defects associated with specific materials or applications can be investigated using reconstructions to determine the mechanism which initiates the problem.
In order to function effectively as reference materials for analysis or for study as a complete system (eg. ink formulae, paint composites) it is mandatory that cross contamination from related materials be eliminated. This was a particular issue in the Lake-making project for example. Great care was required to plan and execute the paint-making workshop such that none of the fourteen different lakes could contaminate each other. This meant keeping preparation tools labeled and separate, using different brushes and application instruments, and maintaining a very clean and orderly work environment throughout.
Specialist knowledge is required not only throughout the preparation of historically relevant reconstructions but in their aftercare as well. Contact with modern materials must be reduced or eliminated and choises of substrates, storage containers and handling methods must involve knowledge of how modern materials behave and degrade over time. For example, certain plastics contain plasticisers that can migrate into samples, therefore the choice of plastic types to be used in substrates is important.
The dual activities of source research and reconstructions can form an integral part of a scientific project. All activities re-inforce one another: documentary sources help the scientist to determine what to look for, and analytical results from actual objects help in the interpretation of documentary sources.
It is important however that all specialists work as a team in designing and implementing a given project, since no one activity is at maximum effectiveness if it is “grafted” on to an already existing workplan.