Plucks (writing)

History

The feathers are made starting from feathers of birds. So today one does not speak any more that of goose feather, the feathers of corbel, cock of heather and duck were used for the fine writing and feathers of vulture and eagle for the writing with broad features. The goose feather (of bird) is known Romans but they prefer the Calame to him and it is essential only as from the 5th century after J. - C. It will dominate all the Moyen-âge and the traditional period. It practically disappears at the end of the 19th century.

The metal feather appears in Antiquity - feathers of copper in Egypt, bronze feather with Rome, money and gold feathers to the Middle Ages - but their bad flexibility and their bad behavior with the corrosion caused by the Encre does not allow him a détrôner the goose feather and it remains an object of craft industry and curiosity.

Only the appearance of new Steel S having resistance and the necessary flexibility will enable him to conquer the world. These first steels are produced with Birmingham about 1820 and as of 1835 the English metal feathers start to be exported in the whole world to replace the goose feather and the Calame.

As of the end of the 19th century, the Stylographe (or Pen-feather or penholder tank) then competed with the feather for penholder with the advantage of having its own reserve of ink, initially in the form of a tank, then disposable cartridges.

Since 1960 the Ball point pen and the Stylo-feutre will détrôneront the feather which is today used only for the Calligraphie, the drawing and on the Stylographe S

Today, the feather became an object of collection sought by the calamophilists .

Plucks goose and other birds

The feather of Oiseau gradually replaces the Calame in Occident between the 6th century and the 9th century because it makes it possible to write in features finer on the Parchemin and because its flexibility makes it possible to make more easily Plein S and Délié S.

Each Oiseau produces approximately five Pennes usable on each wing. The stem of the feather is covered with a grease which prevents that the Encre can adhere to it; to eliminate it the ends from the stems were plunged in ash or hot sand. They were then scraped with a blade then left age during approximately a year. Their size, last stage before use, requires a knowledge and a particular skill, it is done using a pen-knife.

Diderot devotes to it a whole board in the Encyclopédie.

Until the middle of 19th century, the production, the manufacture and sale of goose feathers is an important industry in Europe. The principal producer countries are the Poland, the Poméranie and the Lithuania. In 1830 the England imports twenty four million feathers and the Germany fifty million; with it only the Bank of England uses a million and half of feathers per annum.

Metal feather

Metal feather for penholder

Manufactured in an artisanal way at the beginning of the 19th century, the industrialization of the metal feather was done of 1820 to 1840 thanks to the improvement of the quality of the Acier S and with the development of the manufactoring processes of sheet metals.

To the First World War only the Steel S used to manufacture the metal feathers came from Sheffield - England and was produced starting from Minerai Fer imported Sweden. The steel-works delivered steel in sheets gauged thickness, hot rolled.

The principal center of production of metal feathers was Birmingham. The founders of this industry are: Joseph Gillot - Josiah Mason - the brothers John and William Mitchells - James Perry.

In France an industry developed on the way of importation of the English feathers with Boulogne-sur-Mer thanks to: Pierre Blanzy and Eugene Poure (Blanzy-Poure company) on the one hand and Camille Bagnol and Ferdinand Farjon (Bagnol company and Farjon).

The stages of manufacture of the feathers are:

cutting with the Press in the bands drawn from the sheets of Steel
the drilling of the days when the slit
will end the marking of the inscriptions
a Recuit to return the more malleable Acier
the Estampage to print a reason in relief
forming to give its cylindrical form to the feather
a Trempe and a Recuit to obtain the Dureté and the desired elasticity
a cleaning
a grinding to fray the nozzle of the feather
the cutting of the slit to the press (the most delicate operation)
a Polissage
a Varnishing to protect the feather from oxidation

The feathers are then put limps about it, these limp are in paperboard and illustrated, they generally contain a Grosse (144 feathers). Of another conditionings are used, metal plastic boxes then with contents adapted to the market, 5,10,24,100 feathers.

This activity employed a very important labor, in particular female (5000 people with Birmingham in 1850 for an annual production which exceeded the billion feathers).

Becoming an object of everyday consumption, competition between the manufacturers involved the need to be different and attract the consumer.

The feathers take various forms.

They also take various names:

related to the topicality: feather of Alliance - feather of the Jubilee
intended for particular consumers: Christian feather - feather of Crowned Heart for the Christian schools.
related to the modes: the defeat of 1870 and patriotism while resulting will involve creation in France the creation of military feathers: Sergeant Major - Sergeant Chief - Patriotic feather - In Cantinière' - With the Rosette .

Each country has its preferred feather, used in the schools.

In France: Sergeant Major

In Belgium: feather Balloon

In England: J PEN

The metal feather for penholder disappears like object from everyday consumption as from 1960.

At the beginning of XXère century each manufacturer does not propose several hundreds of models, in 1966, Blanzy-Tell-Gilbert (one of last the French manufacturer) does not propose any more but 50 of them, in 1970: 20 and in 1979: 4.

Today there remains only some manufacturers in the world who produce feathers for the Dessin and some models for the writing, sold like objects of curiosity.

Feathers of stylograph

The feather of Stylograph or Pen-feather, is made of Acier or Or; other noble metals are also utilisés.
To ensure a good wear resistance to him, the end of the nozzle is sometimes carried out in Iridium.

Other feathers

Other materials were used to manufacture feathers.

The Celluloïd made it possible to make feathers flexible and corrosion resistant but fragile. Their form is copied from that of the metal feathers

Glass made it possible to make feathers which resist perfectly the aggressiveness of the Encre but they are very fragile. The feather of glass does not have the shape of the metal feathers but is made of a whole of often tordadés wire of glass between which ink goes up by capillarity. They do not make it possible to make Plein S and Délié S and produce a fine and uniform writing. They were very appraisals in Great Britain at the end of the 19th century. They were re-used in the pens with feather returning in the first quarter of the 20th century. They still produced today in Italy like decorative object and gift.

penholder and Penwiper
Ink
Calame
Stylograph

External references

Club of the collectors of Feathers and Objects of Writing (CCOE)
Site of a collector of feather
a Little story of the writing to the ink of Sophie Barat
feathers for the writing of Jean-Claude Raymond
To cut a feather with diagrams on With the wire of the GN
Cutting Quill Pens from Feathers different article on the size of feather with photographs.
List of bonds on the feathers

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