Towcester, Northamptonshire
First screened 27 January 2008

Signed, sealed and delivered

The reconstruction cameo for this programme involved the crafting of a die, used to create a beautiful embossed relief seal in wax. Master craftsman Ian Houghton (of Chalco Stamp and Die Company) was charged with the painstaking task of carving the die.

Relief carving
'It was a fascinating experiment to do,' says Ian. 'I specialise in one-off dies, the sort of embossing tools used for restoration projects, such as antique book covers. That sort of die is carved in relief, so the image stands proud of the former (metal stamp). For this project we were making a seal. It's the other way around, where the design is sunken in the former. This is difficult to do, like carving a sculpture in negative, but we managed it well and it was enjoyable to do.'

Using tools very similar to those employed by ancient engravers, Ian started by transferring the image to the former from a design and then set about carving the artwork with an array of specialist tools. 'Time Team gave me the design and I traced it onto a special material using a sharp point. The tracing scratches were then filled with graphite and the image was turned over – making it a reverse image so when the finished die is used on wax a proper "positive" image is created – and pressed this into a burnished wax surface on the former. The hardest part was carving the delicate image. Letters are relatively easy.'

Though the tools that Ian was using were made of high quality Swiss steel they were essentially the same in purpose to those used in antiquity. 'We cut the seal into brass,' Ian continues. 'Originally it would most probably have been made out of bronze. The thing that amazed me while making it was that the old carvers wouldn't have been able to use magnifying optics. One wonders how they would have managed the detail with the naked eye.'

Sealing the deal
Dies and seals have been used for thousands of years as a means of certifying or endorsing documents. The Egyptians were prolific die makers, among which are the wonderful cartoon-like cylinder seals. Other examples through history range from ostentatious Roman finger rings incorporating grandiose dies to simple Dark Age clay or lead sealing lumps, called Bulla, which were attached to documents to affirm an important person's sanction of a legal document.

The next time you 'seal a deal' think about doing it properly and having a one-off die made. Ian can be contacted at chalcostampanddie@tiscali.co.uk.

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