What Colour was the Corpus Pelican? A Brief Note on Bibliographical Research, Material Analysis and Conservation of the ‘Grant of Arms’ of Corpus Christi College, University of Cambridge

ABSTRACTThe sixteenth-century ‘Grant of Arms’ of Corpus Christi College (University of Cambridge) is one of the most significant objects in Corpus Christi College’s history. In January 2019, as part of a conservation project of the object, a non-destructive pigments analysis was conducted by the Fitzwilliam Museum to obtain detailed information of the colourants used in the document. This paper presents the results of this scientific analysis, the associated bibliographical research on the Grant of Arms’ imagery and colours, historical storage conditions and the conservation treatment for the object.ZUSAMMENFASSUNGDie im sechzehnten Jahrhundert verliehene ‘Wappenverleihung’ des Corpus Christi College (Universität Cambridge) zählt zu den bedeutendsten Objekten in der Geschichte des Corpus Christi College. Im Januar 2019 wurde im Rahmen eines Restaurierungsprojekts des Objekts eine nicht-destruktive Pigmentanalyse durch das Fitzwilliam Museum durchgeführt, um detaillierte Informationen über die in dem Dokument verwendeten Farbstoffe zu erhalten. Dieser Beitrag präsentiert die Ergebnisse dieser wissenschaftlichen Analyse, die damit verbundene bibliographische Forschung zur Bildsprache und den Farben der ‘Wappenverleihung’, die historischen Lagerungsbedingungen sowie die Restaurierung des Objekts.KEYWORDS: Coat of armspigmentsmanuscriptsnon-destructive analysissmaltSCHLÜSSELWÖRTER: WappenPigmenteManuskriptenicht-destruktive AnalyseSchmaltz AcknowledgementsThe authors wish to show their gratitude to Dr Paola Ricciardi (Fitzwilliam Museum) for enabling us to carry out this research. Also we would like to thank Miss Mila Crippa (Fitzwilliam Museum); and Dr Stefano Legnaioli (ICCOM-CNR, Pisa) for their support for the analysis in 2019.Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).SuppliersConservation by Design, 9 Newmarket Ct, Kingston, Milton Keynes MK10 0AG, UK, +44 1234 846300, https://www.cxdinternational.com/ (Melinex®, and box boards).L. Cornelissen & Son, 105 Great Russell St, London WC1B 3RY, UK, +44 20 7636 1045, https://www.cornelissen.com/ (smalt light, LC20021C; smalt dark, LC20051C; cinnabar, LC12191C; and silver leaf CR71462).Notes1 The Oxford College had been founded in 1517 by Richard Fox, Bishop of Winchester, whose splendid gold crozier featured a pelican as part of its decoration. However, the Oxford College’s coat of arms (featuring the pelican as well as the owl of the Bishop of Exeter) were not confirmed and ratified until 1574, a few years after the grant of arms to the Cambridge College.2 This translates as follows: ‘It is seen that each of the four quarters of the shield bears an image according to an alternating sequence, thus in the first red quarter is seen the Pelican with its feathers spread on its silver nest, and in the second blue quarter appear three silver lilies, and so on through the four quarters.’3 The gold colour border margins in the document discoloured to a reddish tone.4 There is a yellow discolouration surrounding the border of the painted initial ‘O’, and it is visible through the reverse side of the parchment.5 College’s Chapter Book 1 records the business of a meeting held on 3 October 1569 at which the duties of the chapter clerk Edward Brame are described as follows: ‘To hold the third key to the new library and perform library duties.’ This gives us a date for the existence of this new library space.6 This isometric print of 1690 is useful as being the first plan of the college to show the proportions of the buildings with accuracy.7 Although the college still houses an ancient chest of the sort used for storing manuscripts, known as the ‘Billingford Chest’, research has shown that this was used specifically as a loan chest and so would not have held the college muniments.8 Peter Carolin explains how the conception of the library and its collection related to the design of New Court as a whole.9 This instruction is issued to make sure not to touch the surface on colours in handling the object to avoid any damage on the pigments and parchment, as well as the identified orpiment yellow applied on small areas could contain minute amounts of arsenic component.Additional informationNotes on contributorsMito MatsumaruMito Matsumaru ACR is currently a Book and Manuscript Conservator at the Cambridge Colleges’ Conservation Consortium, UK (University of Cambridge). She received an MA in Conservation of Books & Library Materials at West Dean College, UK (2017) as the recipient of an Ito Foundation for International Education Exchange Scholarship. She holds a BA in Art History (2012) and a Master in Conservation Science (2015) from Tokyo University of the Arts, Japan. She has gained field experience working for several institutions both in Japan and the UK, including the V&A and the Wellcome Trust.Lucy HughesLucy Hughes is Archivist of Christ’s College, Cambridge. Her interests include incunabula and early printing history.