[Sca-cooks] Paper twists of spice (Was spice storage)

[Huette von Ahrens]

Printing or decoration?  Someone could have painted the shell or carved it.  Perhaps it is
a piece of stiff cloth or decorated leather?  I know that I am grasping at straws, but I am
having a hard time with the concept that someone desecrated a book to wrap spices in paper.
::Shudder::

When this painting was done in 1612 or so, printing was becoming more common, but would someone
really have torn out a page of a book to wrap spices in it?  I can see the Victorians doing that. 
I have actually held in my hands a Victorian era law book that was falling apart.  Someone had cut
up a vellum illuminated manuscript and pasted a strip of it onto the spine to cover up the
stitching.  I wanted to cry.  But would a 17th Century spice merchant have done that? 

Huette [once an librarian, always a bibliophile]
  
--- Susan Fox-Davis <selene at earthlink.net> wrote:
> Interesting sea shell it is, that has printing on it.  Look at the large 
> image:
> http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/images/aria/sk/z/sk-a-4646.z
> 
> Selene
> 
> Huette von Ahrens wrote:
> 
> >But how do you know that is paper and not a shell of some sort?  There are several other kinds
> >of shells depicted.  This could be a shell that has been cut specifically to be some sort of
> >container or scoop.
> >
> >Huette
> >
> >--- Christina L Biles <bilescl at okstate.edu> wrote:
> >
> >>>The trick with the paper funnel is impressive, and old-school retailers 
> >>>
> >>can do 
> >>
> >>>it without glue. However, I doubt it is period.
> >>>
> >>###I agree.  Paper wasn't all that cheap during the Middle 
> >>Ages/Renaissance. 
> >>
> >>
> >>Paper twists of spice show up in early seventeenth century Dutch art.  I 
> >>haven't got a pre-1600 image yet, but I'm still looking.
> >>This one dates to 1627:
> >>http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/aria/aria_assets/SK-A-4646?lang=en
> >>
> >>I have another from 1615 from a still life by Clara Peeters (the one with 
> >>the flat wedding tart with rosemary & gold charms) that I can't find 
> >>online at the moment.
> >>
> >>
> >>-Magdalena da Cadamosto
> >>
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Sca-cooks mailing list
> Sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
> http://www.ansteorra.org/mailman/listinfo/sca-cooks
> 

Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves for 
they shall never cease to be amused.

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com