[Ansteorra] wax inside of period drinking vessels

[Marc Carlson]

>Stefan li Rous StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
>>  Most of the items I've seen, even from period displays at the Victoria 
>>and  Albert Museum, where the outside is unglazed the inside is glazed or 
>>paraffin
>>lined.
>So, we do have proof of paraffin being used as waterproofing technique in 
>pottery in period?

None whatsoever, since the material we think of as paraffin wax in this 
country wasn't invented until the 19th century.

>I've heard of wax being suggested like this previously for drinking horns. 
>I had
>always thought that this was a modern technique though.

Because it is.

>Actually paraffin, if you are meaning the American use of the term,  is a 
>synthetic wax derived from petroleum dating from, I think, the  mid-19th 
>century. So I assume if a wax was used in period, it would  have been 
>beeswax. And it is the use of the latter in the inside of  drinking vessels 
>that I'm really curious about.

Oh, it could have been pitch or resin.  Even so, there is scads of debate 
about this topic.

I'm no expert on the whole pottery thing, but I'm under the impression that 
unglazed pottery, being porous allows fluid to seep out, and that this, 
evaporating, can help cool a vessel.  I also believe that waxing a pot's 
exterior can be used as a decorative thing (although I don't know if that's 
modern or not).  I would be interested in learning more about waxing the 
inside of a pot.

>"Paraffin" as a British term refers to what Americans call kerosene.  
>Probably not what you want to line the inside of your drinking horn  with. 
>:-)

Not unless you want to put a wick into it...

Marc/Diarmaid
Stefan

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