metallic ink

Ingredients

gold, silver, adhesives

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

The Leyden Papyrus (late third/early fourth century C.E.) contains recipes for writing with metallic ink, as well as for purifying or manufacturing precious metals and gilding (p. 289, Table 4). The Mappae Clavicula (eighth century) also includes recipes for 'making and writing with inks of gold, silver, and different colors' (p. 289, Table 4). These recipes often required adhesives to bind the metallic powders to the writing surface (p. 292).

Evidence

"The Leyden papyrus... also details such decorative techniques as gilding, polishing, and preparing metallic ink, with an emphasis on making other materials resemble gold and silver."

Remarks

Metallic inks were a central component of the early industrial material culture in the Mediterranean. The author highlights that these inks were part of a 'practical tradition' intended for metal workers, jewelers, and artisans (p. 290). In the survey of 553 recipes, the preparation of metallic inks is listed alongside gilding and the polishing of precious stones (p. 289).