Author Topic: HN Italy Original Casts (Read 1303 times)

Molinari · « **on:** October 19, 2022, 07:20:15 am »

I received a really amazing gift yesterday--all the original casts from Keith Rutter's HN Italy! I'm over the moon with joy, and today the casts for Campanian Coinages are due to arrive.

What an honor to be their custodian. I've already learned so much reassembling them. There's just something about a 3D copy that even the best photos can't match.

Jay GT4 · « **Reply #1 on:** October 19, 2022, 10:28:55 am »

Molinari · « **Reply #2 on:** October 19, 2022, 11:31:13 am »

Quote from: Jay GT4 on October 19, 2022, 10:28:55 am

WOW!

I know, right?

Carausius · « **Reply #3 on:** October 19, 2022, 04:06:40 pm »

That's absolutely fantastic! Congratulations.

Meepzorp · « **Reply #4 on:** October 19, 2022, 05:17:06 pm »

Hi Nick,

Congratulations!

But I am confused. What exactly are these casts?

Did Rutter actually have each of those coins in his possession? And did he make casts of every one of them? Is that what these casts are?

I find this confusing because, when a reference book is written, the author doesn't need to have the actual coins in his possession. But how would you make a cast of something you don't have?

And why are casts even necessary?

Meepzorp

Molinari · « **Reply #5 on:** October 19, 2022, 06:02:47 pm »

These casts are of coins mostly in the British museum collection and a few other famous collections—HN Italy has mostly photos of these very casts, not the coins. I think Keith made many of them but some may have been made by Dave Owens and perhaps even Robinson.

The casts for Campanian Coinages just arrived. Those were mostly made by Keith as he traveled Europe back in the 70s, but some museums would send casts rather than photos.

Carausius · « **Reply #6 on:** October 19, 2022, 07:32:08 pm »

In my opinion, casts also make much nicer plates, because patina, surface and lighting issues get eliminated. Instead you have uniform, clear plates and most details are visible.

Molinari · « **Reply #7 on:** October 19, 2022, 08:32:34 pm »

Quote from: Carausius on October 19, 2022, 07:32:08 pm

In my opinion, casts also make much nicer plates, because patina, surface and lighting issues get eliminated. Instead you have uniform, clear plates and most details are visible.

Oh yes, absolutely.

Virgil H · « **Reply #8 on:** October 19, 2022, 09:33:40 pm »

This is amazing. I also never realized that the casts were not colored, but the black and white photography renders them with the grey tint.

Virgil

Molinari · « **Reply #9 on:** October 20, 2022, 07:31:58 am »

Some pictures of the cabinet containing the hundreds of casts for Campanian Coinages:

PtolemAE · « **Reply #10 on:** October 20, 2022, 05:29:54 pm »

Quote from: Molinari on October 19, 2022, 07:20:15 am

I received a really amazing gift yesterday--all the original casts from Keith Rutter's HN Italy! I'm over the moon with joy, and today the casts for Campanian Coinages are due to arrive.

What an honor to be their custodian. I've already learned so much reassembling them. There's just something about a 3D copy that even the best photos can't match.

kooool!

PtolemAE

Joe Sermarini · « **Reply #11 on:** October 20, 2022, 06:56:15 pm »

Your getting another one...

WOW!

Tracy Aiello · « **Reply #12 on:** October 20, 2022, 07:41:19 pm »

Molinari,

...and another one. Wow indeed. That is pretty amazing. What a collection to have, hold, and examine. Congrats!

Tracy

Molinari · « **Reply #13 on:** October 21, 2022, 06:28:07 am »

Yes, another! And this one also contains the casts of three different hoards in the bottom trays!

Jochen · « **Reply #14 on:** October 21, 2022, 07:46:07 am »

What a gift!

Jochen

Anaximander · « **Reply #15 on:** October 21, 2022, 08:07:30 am »

Keep it together, man.

On two levels: (1) steady on. (2) Do. Not. Disburse. One collection in its entirety.

I'm literally green with envy. OK, OK, not "literally".

Great photos!

Great comment, Virgil, about the B&W photography tinting the plain plaster cast. I'd always assumed some colorant was applied.

Molinari · « **Reply #16 on:** October 21, 2022, 01:12:11 pm »

Lol, I'm trying! I would never separate them--They are my babies now.

Grant W · « **Reply #17 on:** October 22, 2022, 03:25:31 am »

Holy shamoly!

Pawel K · « **Reply #18 on:** February 03, 2023, 02:27:34 pm »

Absolutely amazing

But...what are they made of?

Molinari · « **Reply #19 on:** February 03, 2023, 04:22:31 pm »

Different types of plaster. Some are older than others and date back to Robinson, if not earlier!

Curtis JJ · « **Reply #20 on:** February 03, 2023, 07:01:24 pm »

This is an absolute treasure. I think I may have seen you post it elsewhere and may have made this comment:

Anytime I see old plaster casts like this (surprisingly rarely, given how many thousands must've been produced), I wonder what happened to them all, and how many have survived (individually or intact).

All those Naville Ars Classica and Egger and Ratto catalog casts... After a sale was done, did Jacob Hirsch or Felix Sclessinger put them in drawers? Throw them out? Seems like some were shipped to museum collections, but I imagine that's a minority of them? Are any casts still floating around from Pozzi or Strozzi or Virzi and friends?

I'd be happy to come across just a few!

Virgil H · « **Reply #21 on:** February 03, 2023, 07:27:23 pm »

Great comments Curtis. One thing that has always surprised me is not seeing plaster casts at auction houses or dealers that I follow and I follow quite a few in both the US and Europe. I see electrolytes. Maybe I am just not looking at the right areas in auctions, but it seems these would be a collectable area of interest for some people. What happened to them all is a great question. Did they throw them away? There had to have been thousands made over the years.

Virgil

Molinari · « **Reply #22 on:** February 03, 2023, 08:43:25 pm »

I don’t think I’ve ever seen any for sale. My guess is most were thrown away like old film after the pictures are developed.

Virgil H · « **Reply #23 on:** February 03, 2023, 09:01:25 pm »

I always kept my negatives, but you are probably right. Those casts had a purpose and were not needed after their purpose was fulfilled. I was thinking that these casts would have been treated like dies that were finished with their run of production (I guess I am thinking mostly of modern medal and commercial token dies). But, I guess companies kept dies in case they ever needed them again. And with casts, there was no further need unless they auctioned the same coin again and that was so rare an occurrence there was no need to keep them. I am just thinking aloud here, it is strange we never see casts, so most must have been thrown away.

Virgil

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Author Topic: HN Italy Original Casts (Read 1303 times)