Horn
Horn has been referred to as a natural plastic
and is similar to modern thermoplastics in that
it tends to revert to its original shape. Despite
the simple processes that remain unchanged in
working horn, the horner’s experience and
judgement are critical in overcoming this
tendency to revert to its original shape. The
colours of horn range from ebony to shades of
cream and when subjected to heat and pressure it
can become translucent.
The use of horn was universal wherever there
were herds of cattle, goats and flocks of sheep
and certain antelopes. Despite being a unique and
extremely versatile resource horn is almost
forgotten as a raw material. Its use since
ancient times for drinking horns, containers and
sounding horns is well documented. It was also
used for many items essential to daily life such
as combs, spoons, knife and tool handles, horn
cups and objects of great beauty. In some cases
horn objects had a symbolic significance.
Unless horn has been buried in a waterlogged
site (where oxygen has been excluded) it
decomposes. Much evidence has been lost but
certain words such as lanthorn, inkhorn, horn-rimmed
spectacles and powder horn indicate the wide use
of horn in the past. The craft has been in
decline since the early years of the twentieth
century because many objects made in horn are now
produced more cheaply in modern thermoplastics.
In 1943, the Worshipful
Company of Horners formed a close association
with the Plastics Industry who are the logical
successors to this ancient craft. The Horners’
Company was first recorded in 1284 in the City of
London. York had a Horners’ Gild, as did
Paris. Trade gilds controlled and protected their
craft through the apprenticeship system, by
maintaining quality and assisting their poorer
members and widows.
Horn is deposited in laminated layers around a
bony core separated by connective tissue. It
grows throughout the life of the animal, whereas
antler is shed each year. The usual practise was
to remove the solid tip first, before separating
the core from the sheath. One method was to soak
the horn in barrels of water for a specific time
depending on the season. When removed from the
barrels the horn was heated before splitting with
a sharp knife, prising open with tongs and
putting between hot metal plates in a press and
applying pressure. Placing the warmed horn into
moulds before applying pressure enabled the
production of horn boxes, beakers and other items.
Often lathe work was involved in the making of
items by horn turners.
Early descriptions defined the horner as being
either a horn presser or breaker, or a horn
turner, because horn working can be divided into
two stages. Many items such as combs, spectacles,
lantern and windowpanes were produced from semi-manufactured
flattened horn and sold on to other craftsmen.
These sections were called either ‘leaves’,
when produced for lanterns and windowpanes, or
‘plates’ by combmakers and ‘scales’
in the cutlery trade.
Horn work includes the working of antler,
cattle horn and hoof. Antler differs in chemical
makeup to hoof and horn. Hoof and horn are
largely formed from keratin, which is a protein;
antler is bone, which is calcium carbonate and
its appearance is more like ivory when the outer
bark is removed.
Tortoiseshell
Tortoiseshell, the much admired
decorative material, derives not from a land
tortoise but from certain species of marine
turtle, principally the relatively small
hawksbill. Recognised by the misnomer,
tortoiseshell, the substance has been renowned
for its beauty since early times, principally for
small articles, boxes and cases, haircombs, fans
and jewellery, and ornamental veneers and inlays
on furniture. According to the Shorter Oxford
English Dictionary (1965), the word tortoiseshell
was coined in 1601.
The substance, tortoiseshell, is
referred to as a "natural plastic" or
"thermoplastic", because of its ability,
when heated, to be worked, stamped, pressed or
refashioned, retaining on cooling, any desired
shape to which it has been moulded. It can also
be turned. Tortoiseshell takes and retains a high
polish; it is this particular quality that
endeared it to the most noble in society during
the 18th. and 19th. centuries. Because of its
expense, only the wealthy could afford it, hence
the introduction of stained, clarified horn in
imitation of genuine tortoiseshell, and later,
mottled celluloid - both considerably cheaper
substances.
Tortoiseshell has long been
popular in China and other parts of the Orient.
Wealthy citizens of ancient Rome sought
decorative objects of tortoiseshell, brought to
Italy from the Far East by way of Egypt. Spain
was one of the first European countries to use
tortoiseshell commercially in decoration and
inlays, using it on chests and cabinets as early
as the 15th century.
|