![]() ![]() Sitting in the archive while conjuring visions of maggots floating on an undulating, effervescing, fermenting vat of indigo, I found myself wondering how integral the senses were for understanding the passage of time. “Sooner or later,” he noted, “these appearances gradually subside,” and the distiller could move onto the next step in the process. Covering a range of brewing and distilling techniques, Hall blended mechanical and sensory ways of measuring time in his “full and particular directions.” The process of vinous fermentation, Hall noted, could be observed by the ear, eye, and nose as the distiller watched and listened for a “gentle intestine motion” in the liquid, followed by the “collection of froth or a head,” that would be accompanied by a “strong, penetrating, agreeable” odor. In 1816, Harrison Hall donated a copy of his 1813 Hall’s Distiller to the APS. APS.Ĭooper was not alone in turning to the senses to measure the passage of time in maker’s spaces. ![]() Excerpt from Hall’s Distiller…Adapted for the Use of Farmers as well as Distillers, Harrison Hall, 1813. Listening at the edge of the vat to “observe the gentle noise of the fermentation within” helped the artisan judge how far their vat was into the fermentation process the growth and repeated skimming off of maggots served as a measure of time for bran and madder vats indigo was ready to be used when blue veins shot through the fermenting dark green mixture. Instead, he instructed his reader to look for “signs” they could measure with their senses. While reading the copy of Thomas Cooper’s 1815 A Practical Treatise on Dyeing and Callicoe Printing held at the APS, I was struck by Cooper’s insistence that “The eye and the ear, must not alone be trusted by the workmen, for the purposes of ascertaining whether the vat is in order the sense of smelling too will greatly assist…” Describing the steps needed to prepare a woad vat to create blue dye for woolens, Cooper rarely relied on the clock to measure the passage of time. Excerpt from A Practical Treatise on Dyeing and Callicoe Printing Exhibiting the process in the French, German, English, and American Practice of Fixing Colours on Woollen, Cotton, Silk, and Linen, Thomas Cooper, 1815. Most research projects seem to start in earnest when a researcher encounters something that makes them stop, lean back in their chair, stare out the window, and utter “Huh.” Digging through the collection of treatises and dissertations on dyeing, brewing, and farming held at the American Philosophical Society’s Library and Museum, my “huh” moment came in the form of effervescing bubbles, wriggling maggots, and fermenting leaves. Header image: “Appearance of a Steeped Vat,” T reatise on the Process and Manufacture of Fine Indigo, 1832.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |