Definition

• Bois Durci.  A paste wood composition once used for portrait medallions. Made from a base of fine hardwood sawdust to which albumin was added, then pressed, dried and molded under heat, resulting in a hard, polished surface. The original color was a rich blood-red, however with time the composition darkened, turning first to mahogany, then brown, and finally to black. Most specimens observed in 1990s are totally black, ebony in color. (It is assumed the black color is now stable and these specimens will remain ebony well into the future.) The source of the albumin was blood (human or animal, with most references stating ox blood as the origin). It was once employed by a French artisan, Charles Lepage, in the 1850s, to create a series of portrait reliefs of prominent 18th
  and 19th century people (French and British notables predominated, but Americans are reported – a Washington portrait was reported in 1930s but has not been observed). A portrait of Abraham Lincoln made of bois durci is illustrated in Reed N47 {2012}. These bois durci medallions have at times been incorrectly cataloged or described as gutta percha, vulcanite or even Bakelite. The term is French and means hardened wood. Other objects were made of bois durci including buttons, brooches, combs, even snuff boxes and picture frames.
  References:                                                                                                                            
  X4 {1967} Luscomb, p 23.
  N47{2012} Reed, Abe Lincoln Beyond The American Icon, p 67

  excerpted with permission from

  An Encyclopedia of Coin and Medal Technology

  For Artists, Makers, Collectors and Curators

  COMPILED AND WRITTEN BY D. WAYNE JOHNSON

  Roger W. Burdette, Editor

Beziehungen