Posted by Matt Walker on May 05, 2003
Jeffrey P. Lang - Hastings XX-TraHi,
A friend of mine gave me a book of Hastings 18K gold leaf. His father was in the antique business and said it was from him many years ago. Does anyone know the history of the Hastings company?. When did they stop making gold leaf. It's a full book and seems to be in usuable condition. any info would be appreciated!.
Best Regards,
Matt Walker
Hastings used to put out a newsletter that would have tips & tricks, show jobs their gold was used on by artists, sign painters & such, & even gave notice to their long time subscribers & a sentence or two about those folks.
Jeff
Kent Smith
Jeffrey P. LangThey also printed a small guide "Gilders' Tips", on better, more profitable use of Gold Leaf-prepared for the practical gilder by Hastings & Company, Inc. I don't have a date on my copy but it was when they had branches in NY and Chicago and the photos of a Pack and Size can appear to be from the early '50's.
Vance GalliherKent,
The issue of "Hasting's XX-Tra" i have is the Spring 1949 issue. It is "Pack 23, Book 1" so I think that means it has been published since 1926 possibly. It also says it's the 69th issue. There is a "gilders tip" article that appears to be a regular feature & other helpful articles. The "Gilders' tips" guide I have isn't dated either. One thing I found interesting was the specifications of Paladium Leaf on page 25 was stamped in red "discontinued". I don't know if that helps to date it?
Kent Smithhi matt,i have a full unopened book of 23k hastings(the wrapping has turned amber and feels old) that a friend gave me years ago....."especially selected for gilding on glass".......maybe someday that "special" piece will show up .or i'll just give it to a friend......vance
CamHastings was bought by Kurz and became Kurz-Hastings sometime in the mid to late 50's and the factory on Market St. in Philadelphia was closed. All leaf was then processed at their plant in Germany ans sold through the sales office in Phila. Some of their leaf still surfaces in the US but I am not certain whether they still are importing leaf but they are listed in the Phila. area for hot stamping foils and other art materials.
Kent SmithYears ago a little old lady came into my shop and wanted to know if I wanted to buy some gold leaf. I half expected her to produce a book of dutch metal or a can of gold paint, but then she said, "It belonged to my late husband. He was a gold man." She left, and appeared the next day with a shoebox; in it were treasures: A first edition of Leblanc's "Gold Leaf Techniques", several other books and pamphlets, and of course, gold...about a half pack of early 50's Hastings xx glass gold, some patent, a full unopened pack of Hastings silver leaf, a full pack of Hastings palladium, and several books of aluminum leaf, all carefully double-wrapped in plastic. There were water-size brushes and gilders tips as well as several other odds and ends. I ask her what she'd done with his quills, she said she'd given them to her grandchildren "who were interested in art". (sob!) Gave her $300 for the whole works. I still have the silver and the palladium; the XX was saved for my own windows, which I did last year.
Linda ChurchwellHope you can find a personal project for the Palladium too as theirs was the best quality. Just the right thickness and fairly silvery. I have a book or two left waiting for a special project. Same with the rest of my Hastings stock but sadly all the glass 23K has been used. My van is lettered in 23K Hastings patent, that is why it is patched in a couple places rather than regilded and the "Since 1928" is their Palladium. At 190,000 miles, I am afraid I will be loosing that one too one day due to practicality. I have kept my old Hastings and Swift boxes to keep the new stuff in but the book packets are larger and don't fit quite right. Nuthin's the same anymore.
I have heard many a tale about how quality was maintained at the company in their original facility in Phila. Since all the work was done by hand, each leaf was visually inspected many times before it was booked. Any leaf not passing muster went back into the skew and reprocessed with the skew trims. Even the ribbons from the mills had to be perfect or they started again. I think this was where they were set off from the others. The ribbon had to be good, even color and have no marring. Better to catch it there than after the labor intensive process of beating. All of this was related to me, oddly enough, by Matthew Swift. His Dad always tried to emulate the Hastings quality as did he and his brothers, yet they also tried to be the price point gold as well. He said that now without being able to do all the work by hand, they could not produce the quality and he feared they were no better than anyone else. That is why they use outside contractors for leaf and only make their own stamping foils. Although many beaters hand finish, it is not the same as doing it all. Urban Billmeier does much of the work by hand and as a small company can control a lot. However, to be competitive, he must also use automation. I have some good photos of the process he uses in the 4th Edition if you are interested. The cutch was originally hand beaten and trimmed and reduced as needed during that process with frequent inspections.
We did many test comparisons of various leaves at an early Conclave, using Dusty's forensic scopes. We found that Hastings was the "Rolls Royce", being consistant in alloy and thickness with little leather or parchment pattern and an even light rouge on the paper. Too much of the current leaf is a "Chevy" by comparison. There are a couple of "Caddy's" but we found nothing really high-end. I still have most of those samples but since our comparison's were not totally scientific, there is no written record of the results. Be that as it may, the Hastings sample is still what I use to compare to for quality and clarity. It is nice to have that as a benchmark when the next batch of the new best quailty leaf is peddled to me.
Bruce Jackson - Hand Made LeafI have been trying to find out something about some boxes of gold leaf that my dad had, he was a signpainter, he did goldleaf on glass. I have various boxes of swift, a few packets of hastings, and some boxes of august rhul different karats and colors. I would like some more information on what I might do with this gold leaf something about it.
thanks
linda
Bruce Jackson - Photo of Book of GoldMost of the leaf I use is hand-beaten. Wm. Ashcroft & Co. in Melbourne (Australia) does it all by hand. I have heard they are one of only three companies left who don't use machine beating.
The quality is generally very good, but it can be variable. SOmetimes you can see the marks of the jarring vibrations of an off hammer blow.
The color is deep and rich, with a pleasant amount of patina from the beating.
I find machine-beaten leaf to be more consistant, and give a less textured mirror finish, but it has less character. It also seems to be thinner, yet it has less pinholes.
Close Up PictureHere's a photo of a book.
Note the date. Also the fact that the tissue isn't much larger than the leaf itself. It is only lightly pressed and still comes away cleanly.
This was part of a pack that came up on ebay. I was beaten to it, but after asking the winning bidder if he'd sell me a book from the pack, he sent me this one gratis.
http://www.goldreverre.com/extra/P5082136.JPG
Rick Sacks
RoderickWhen I was learning gold work Hastings was considered by those I was exposed to as the best. I still have two new packs that were purchased from Isie Posner in 70 & 71 that I wanted to save. I get a charge just out of holding the boxes. The boxes gold comes in today are nowhere near the quality either. Remember the ones with the end that folds down for easy access? Thick cardboard with glossy finish and gold letters. Memory lane......
Let me know how to e-mail a photo and I will send a photo of my dads "hasting stash"
Thanks Roderick
Denver Chapter of the Letterheads