135r - - - - - Colors for gold, or sauce
Take as much verdigris as sal ammoniac, & saltpetre the size of a bean. Because if you put in too much, it would make the whole thing boil so much that it would all pour out. Saltpeter is only put in to make it boil, so that you know when the material has boiled enough. This color put on sour melted gold makes it soft instantly.
at left top margin
Softening gold
Casting
It must be lengthened out with respect to the thing you have molded. And at a minimum for large molds it must be four or five fingers in length. You can make it large enough for half the mold & then divide it in three points of such a sort, and so the molded things will each be small. But your points must be small. And in the middle of the casting & of its points, make some holes to impede the fury of the metal & make it run more softly. It is also necessary to fix the bent parts of the animal with little notched lines, and similarly the end of the tail and other fine parts so that the metal goes throughout & flows from one part to the other.
Do not forget to make a wax cast of the paws of & things as subtle as this.
at left top margin
When you have molded an animal in the first part of the mold, do not let this part dry out before you have removed the said animal, because when the mold dries out it will shrink and it will also make the animal shrink. Keep it therefore in a damp & humid place until you have done it.
Figure at left middle margin
Vine leaf and small frog
To mold, take vine leaves as they are blooming, just as with all herbs & flowers, or a young vine regrowing after it has been cut or when the leaves come off in autumn, because new leaves are knottier & have more evident veins. By contrast, old leaves are smooth all the way through & full of holes in many places. Place therefore your leaf, its back behind it against the clay plaster, and fasten it with little pins. Leave it nevertheless with its natural curling. And make a notch in the clay to hide the stem for the first cast. And when it’s done and dry, take out the stem of the leaf and clean it well with your jacket and press it with a little scoop of clay. Afterwards, make many castings around the leaf with wax, as you know well, & make a slender casting & with many lines & knots.
at left middle margin
Vine leaf is painted with a green made of scudegrun & verd de terre.
at left bottom margin
You can cast a spider or frog & whatever you like on the leaf.