Metalurgia - History Lab

Landscape with gypsy camp

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:31:21 +0000

This landscape by the Flemish engraver Aegidius Sadeler II (1570-1629) confirms that the trades of blacksmith and coppersmith were common practice among the Gypsies. Next to the three men seated in a semicircle in the background, various tools (an anvil, tongs and the hammers carried by two of them) are arranged in the foreground, alluding to forging work. It is quite possible that the Gypsies learned the art of metalworking in India, their place of origin, and brought it to Europe after their arrival in the early 15th century. In the Gypsy camp there are also two pack animals, which could be a mule or a donkey, and with which, together with the horse, the male Gypsies traded, either with people passing through or at fairs. This earned them the nickname of chalanes, a word used to refer to a person who buys and sells animals (mainly horses) in a skilful and persuasive manner. It is known that they did not dedicate themselves exclusively to buying and selling, but that they sometimes adorned or embellished the animals in order to obtain a greater economic benefit from the transactions.

The post Landscape with gypsy camp first appeared on History Lab.

Quicksilver mines in New Spain

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:30:14 +0000

Quicksilver, or mercury, is a metal obtained from the mineral known as cinnabar, which was decisive in the processing of silver, and was therefore of vital importance to the miners of New Spain. The extraction of quicksilver was a monopoly of the Crown and was mainly supplied from the Peninsula, which sometimes caused shortages and difficulties, mainly due to wars and complications in maritime transport. It was in the 16th century when Bartolomé de Medina introduced the method of amalgamation with quicksilver, a method that was very successful and which revolutionised American metallurgy. This technique spread to all the mining centres in the Americas until the 19th century. The mines from which the Crown mainly supplied this metal were Almadén, in Spain, and Huancavelica, in Peru. During the 17th century in New Spain, despite some difficulties in the exploitation of the mercury mines existing in this viceroyalty, such as the lack of manpower, the scarcity of knowledge and metallurgical preparation or the lack of capital to cover the costs, some of them were exploited.

The post Quicksilver mines in New Spain first appeared on History Lab.

Quicksilver mines in Almadén

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:30:14 +0000

Quicksilver, or mercury, is a metal obtained from the mineral called cinnabar, which was decisive for the processing of silver, and was therefore of vital importance for the production of this metal. It was in the 16th century when Bartolomé de Medina unveiled the method of amalgamation with quicksilver, a method which was very successful and which brought about a revolution in metallurgy. The Spanish Crown obtained most of its supplies of quicksilver from the mines of Almadén in Spain and Huancavelica in Peru. Almadén’s cinnabar reserves had been exploited since ancient times. In modern times, from the beginning of the 16th century, the mines were perpetually incorporated into the Crown of Castile. Until the mid-17th century, the mines were exploited by private individuals who obtained a right granted by the Crown of Castile. From 1645 onwards, the mine returned to the hands of the State, and a process of slow reforms and the appointment of superintendents began. The upper part of the selected resource depicts the furnaces used to separate the quicksilver. From one of them starts a row of aludels (terracotta pipes) used for the condensation of the mercury vapour that ends in the condensation chamber. The lower part of the print shows the tools and implements for working and processing the quicksilver, such as a balance, pieces of metal, hammer and chisel, cart, wood for holding the baskets, a bag of badana, aludeles, earthenware vessel for storing the mercury, basket and mould for shaping. The drawing is a copy by José Antonio de Alzate y Ramírez, published by Antoine de Jussieu. Antoine de Jussieu was sent to Spain by the Duke of Orleans to collect plant species for the gardens of Paris. Together with his brother Bernard, he visited the Almadén mines in 1717 and 1719, and presented a Memoir to the Academy of Sciences in Paris. The translation of this Memoir was made by José Antonio de Alzate y Ramírez, who also copied the prints that were published in it, under the title “Observations on what is practised in Almadén in Spain to extract quicksilver and on the nature of the illnesses of those who work by Mr. Jussieu, on 15 November 1778”.

The post Quicksilver mines in Almadén first appeared on History Lab.