![]() ![]() Preservationally, a skin document or diploma should be hinged or conservationally mounted. Fully mounting a piece of parchment or vellum using any process restricts it from the natural expansion and contraction it craves through variations in relative humidity. This in turn is part of their natural beauty and the basis for framing them true to their nature.unmounted. Skins are sought after for their longevity because of their complete lack of acidity due to the cleaning and purification processes. Though the use of animal skins appears to be more limited to university diplomas in the United States, in other parts of the world it is extensively used for everything from wedding invitations to royal proclamations (photo 1). Unlike paper, the preparation of natural animal skin cannot be mechanized. Vellums are generally creamy in color and often showcase the veining of the animal, while parchment is whiter and has a much smoother surface. Most vellums are sold as whole skins unlike sheepskin parchment which is also available in rectangular shapes. New skins are generally stored rolled and reverse rolling will lie them flat. Shaving of vellums takes much longer and is more difficult, requiring much greater skill for it is easy to remove too much or too little of the skin reducing its value. After the hair has been removed, there is a long liming process lasting up to four weeks. Though the process for preparing vellum is similar to sheepskin, while sheepskins are sorted and selected after dewooling, calfskins and goatskins are selected prior to dehairing. Dried skins are cut from the wooden frame for finishing and/or cutting into smaller pieces. Then they are set aside to dry slowly to ensure a flat even skin. The skins are then scraped (for the second and third times), degreased, shaved, pumiced, purified, and whitened, all by hand. Skins are then tied to a wooden frame at 21 points around the edge of the skin, and allowed to dry 5-6 days. To prepare them sheepskins are first pickled for storage then in large batches are depickled, scraped, limed, then finally squeezed to remove moisture. The skins from sheep are whiter and oilier than vellum. This is the reason many ivy league universities continue to produce diplomas on original sheepskin instead of artificial parchment or fine grade printing paper. Genuine sheepskin parchment is used for printing, writing and bookbinding whenever excellence or distinction is desired. On the other hand, it was said that Cicero had an extensive library of parchment in which there existed a parchment so fine that the whole story of The Iliad was written upon it and fitted into a nutshell. Archbishop Hildeberg of Tours in the 11 th century tells that prior to writing on skin the scribe cleaned remains of fat and other impurities with a razor then pumiced it with a stone to smooth and remove tendon lines. In ancient times the preparation of skins for writing was crude. Though all writing skins are often referred to as 'parchment', the only true parchment comes from sheep. Vellum is the proper name given for any high quality animal skin excluding sheep or lamb. Calf, goat and sheep were normally used, but skins of gazelle, antelope, stag and ostrich have been uncovered and preserved. The use of vellum animal skins for recording history has long been an accepted practice, and skins have survived from as early as Egypt 2500 BC. But in order to better understand the positives and negatives of attempting to mount parchment we need to first examine the origin and differences of this tricky animal. Paschke, CPF GCF "Vellum and Parchment" February 1999įor years there have been assorted techniques promoted for the mounting of 'sheepskins' and generally there is more than one way to skin a cat. Chris Paschke - Vellum and Parchment Paschke Online Designs Ink Publishing Article Archive and Reference Library Articles by Chris A. ![]()
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