Yesterday a book I have been waiting for arrived, and I have madly been pawing through it since it arrived. Some of you might remember when it was posted on The Shambles (The mailing list, not the TV show), by a wonderful Duchess not that long ago… Beyond Pilgrim Souvenirs and Secular Badges, is a book full of essays on pewter, lead and tin souvenirs and badges which has not only inspired me to fork out even more money for the book that this book is a successor to, it has shown me that not all period souvenirs were solid cast “tokens”. A significant amount of the souvenirs were actually hollow cast Ampullae, albeit very small ones, that were around 4-5cm tall.

This opened my eye’s to something that I hadn’t considered previously, hollow casting in soapstone was just something I haven’t even thought about. Which was strange really because when I did think about it, it wasn’t much of a huge take to work it out. Soapstone moulds are great at quickly drawing away the heat from molten pewter… however if the amount of molten pewter is large enough, it cools from the mould to the centre as a slower rate, allowing you to pour out the excess molten pewter and forming a hollow shape.

Tonight I experimented with this technique and succeeded in creating 3 hollow forms which can if needed hold fluid. Further experimentation will continue as I try and recreate a period looking Ampulla complete with decoration.