Sehrgut Anachronism

Homemade Sealing Wax Recipe and Procedures

'The time has come,' the Walrus said,
'To talk of many things:
Of shoes—and ships—and sealing-wax—
Of cabbages—and kings—
And why the sea is boiling hot—
And whether pigs have wings.'

— "The Walrus and The Carpenter," Lewis Carroll.

Sealing wax, a vestige of times more formal — and more interesting — rarely finds place in today's world. But, even though it is likely to be viewed askance by purveyours of modernity, a good wax seal is also sure to bring comment (and if you're lucky, admiration).

For those desiring merely the look of a wax seal without the effort required by the actuality, might I recommend coloured hot glue sticks, which can be purchased from any stationery or wedding supply store. For those of you still with me, might I present an easy and relatively authentic way to arrive at a "real" sealing wax, complete with a hand-engraved seal.

Sealing wax has been made of a variety of materials, with ingredients and admixtures as widely diverse as rosin, beeswax, shellac, gutta percha, cellulose acetate, and even more modern polymeric compounds. Materials generally allowed in what are known as "true" sealing waxes are beeswax, coniferous resins (such as rosin and varnish resins), and later, shellac.

While the earliest formulations consist largely of resin and beeswax combined with a dry pigment for colouration and body, as early as the sixteenth century, due to increased availability through trade, shellac began to supplant beeswax in seal recipes. A widespread formula consisted of one part (by weight) of Venice (or, Venetian) turpentine (the thick resinous solution secreted by the Austrian Larch tree, Larix decidua syn. europaea) combined with four parts of shellac flakes and three parts dry pigment.

While seal formulations composed of a high proportion of beeswax tended to be more flexible, and hence stand up to the rigours of transportation more readily, they were not as secure as a more brittle seal. If an entirely-beeswax seal were peeled carefully from a document, it could often be later reattached with no obvious signs, or even reused elsewhere. A brittle seal would preclude this. Shellac, being an extremely brittle natural mixture of wax and resin, was a natural choice as it became readily available. In fact, sealing waxes could even be procured whose only adhesive/resinous/waxy component was shellac, resulting in very brittle (and very secure) seals.

Sealing Wax

In keeping with the traditional materials, my ideal sealing wax would contain only natural varnish resins, minimally-processed shellac (meaning unbleached and retaining its natural wax component), raw beeswax, and hand-produced pigments. In practicality, some of these ideals must be slightly "modified" due to the unavailability and expense of hand-produced filler pigments and other materials. Nathless, a reasonably good-faith approximation of a "period" sealing wax, with a slight condescention to current requirements of flexibility and ease of use, may be created.

Materials

Equipment

Procedure

  1. Weigh equal parts beeswax, damar resin, and shellac. (It is best to make a small batch with which to test the properties of this mixture before altering the formulation. More wax will make the seal more flexible, resin will harden and strengthen the seal, and shellac will harden and embrittle the seal.)
  2. Combine wax, resin, and shellac in a double boiler. The wax and resin will form one layer (the oily layer), while the shellac, being alcohol-soluble, will not incorporate to any great degree, and will remain separate as a spiritous layer.
  3. Begin sprinkling a filler pigment into the mixture. It is vital that the pigment be added slowly so as to preclude lumps. The solid matter should serve to aid in the union of the two antagonistic fractions. (In fact, the more shellac is used in the recipe, the more filler pigment is needed, or the more absorbant the both pigments must be, to ensure complete incorporation of the shellac. Blanc fixe — barium sulphate — is not as absorbant as the calcareous pigments like chalk, marble dust, and gypsum plaster.)
  4. When the layers have begun homogenizing, begin sprinkling in colouring pigments of your choice. Remember that molten wax will have a slightly more saturated, vivid colour than the hardened seal. Tiny daubs of wax may be removed and cooled to test for colour.
  5. After the desired colour is reached, additional filler pigment should be added to give the molten mixture the consistency of honey or mollasses. However, seal-sized daubs of wax should be removed and tested on the intended paper occasionally, since the addition of pigments diminishes the adhesive capacity of the wax, and a balance between adhesion and body/ease of use (a thick melt is much easier to use, and clogs thin lines on a sigil less, than a thin one) must be arrived at.
  6. When the final product is satisfactory (and mind you, the entire batch can be remelted and reworked/added-to as much as you like — no Final Judgment here), cast it into stick approximately one-half inch square in cross section (though shape is also a matter of personal preference). The wax should be only slightly adhesive to slick surfaces when cooled, and no treatment of the molds is usually necessary. If the wax is difficult to remove, float the molds in a hot-water bath for a few minutes to loosen the sticks of wax.

Sigil (Signet)

I'll write this up later. Suffice it to say that welder's chalk (talc) makes a great die, a dental pick makes a great engraver, casein makes a great cement, and a hand-formed one-inch pine stick makes a great handle.

Outside Links

These links may be useful/useless. Pending a real writeup . . .

http://www.florilegium.org/files/SCRIBAL-ARTS/sealing-wax-msg.html
http://merryrose.atlantia.sca.org/archive/1995-08aug/msg00085.html
http://www.handfasting.info/faq9.html
http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/byform/mailing-lists/cdl/1998/1019.html
http://www.thelitterbox.org/librum/i-wf/
http://www.public-domain-content.com/
http://www.godecookery.com/merchant/merchant.htm

Codex • Anachronism
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