Page-image recipe databases, a new approach for accessing art technological manuscripts and rare
printed sources: the Winsor & Newton archive prototype
Mark Clarke and Leslie Carlyle
Instituut Collectie Nederland
Gabriël Metsustraat 8
1071 EA Amsterdam
The Netherlands
E-mail: mark.clarke@icn.nl; leslie.carlyle@icn.nl
Abstract
This paper describes a new database approach for making the contents of a documentary source widely
accessible without the need for exhaustive transcription or complex editing. The electronic availability
of historic recipes greatly facilitates correlation between the recipes and analytical results from historic
art works, thus serving conservators and conservation scientists, as well as art historians and curators.
The database incorporates full page images from the primary source, alongside an index and summary
of individual page contents. This removes the problems of full-text entry, and allows the rapid
generation of indices. As the original page is always visible to the user, subsequent researchers are not
restricted to interpretations within the database entries. A fully functional pilot database is being built
for the 19th century archive of Winsor & Newton, which contains recipes and processes for making oil
painter’s materials.
Keywords
database, archive digitization, colourman, recipe, oil paint, watercolour, 19th century, England
Introduction
Many manuscripts covering art technology survive from all periods, such as artists’ recipes, or
descriptions and diagrams of technical or manufacturing processes. A large proportion of these are
unpublished, and consequently almost wholly unknown or inaccessible.
Interpretation of the texts
Preparing transcriptions of manuscripts or rare printed sources is slow and problematic, and printed
editions are expensive to produce. However carefully the editor is faithful to the original, some
interpretation is always necessary: conjectural readings must be provided for missing or illegible
passages and for abbreviations and symbols. The language of such old texts is often obscure or
obsolete, further complicating the reading. With manuscripts that have been added to and modified
over time, it is awkward to decide which parts of the text are later additions or annotations. Such clues
as crossing-out, pasted in slips, marginal or interlinear notes, pencilled additions, changes in
handwriting, or passages in the same hand but different ink can be essential for working out the original
text, as well as how it was used. This information is lost in a printed
edition. Therefore, in the past, indexing and interpretation of manuscripts have involved long, complex,
slow transcriptions by an editor familiar with the subject, language and handwriting of the period. The
result, however-sophisticated, remains an interpretation fixed in time. As knowledge of a field
increases, original interpretations require revision. Indeed, the history of researching and editing
manuscripts is one of repeatedly returning to the original for reconsideration.
Accessibility
With important manuscripts (and printed books) the solution for creating wider accessibility has often
been to publish a facsimile. This should be straightforward, requiring only good photography and
printing, but unfortunately quality printing, especially in colour, is very expensive. The much reduced
quality of inexpensive editions, microfilms or photocopies make close reading of complex pages
difficult at best. Furthermore manuscript reproductions require each reader to be his or her own editor.
With individual manuscripts and whole archives, there is no way to easily find material relevant to any
specific enquiry other than to struggle through page by page. The solution is to make the original pages
accessible and to prepare a detailed index. This has been successfully done on the Roberson
Colourman’s archive at the Hamilton Kerr Institute in Cambridge, UK, where a computer database was
used to generate a printed index of artist’s accounts in the archive (Woodcock 1995, Woodcock and
Churchman 1997). Although this elegant solution makes access to this part of the archive
straightforward, researchers must nevertheless present themselves in person and handle the delicate old
documents each time they require information. Furthermore each individual accesses the archive for
their own purposes, and in many cases their extensive findings are only available in summary form in
later publications.
The page-image database
A new solution is to combine the advantages of a computer-based indexing system with digitized
images from each page of a manuscript, removing the necessity of visiting the primary source in
person, and reducing the need for repeated handling of rare and fragile material. Such a database has
been designed for the 19th century recipe books of Winsor & Newton, the English manufacturer and
dealer in artists’ materials.
Pilot project: 19th century colourmen’s archives at Winsor & Newton
For the first time in its 170 year history, Winsor & Newton is making their comprehensive archive
available to outside researchers. It includes detailed recipes for making artists’ oil paint and water
colours, consisting of 95 handwritten books of recipes and workshop notes, totalling 16,500 pages. The
pilot database concentrates on the portion containing oil paint recipes, some 10,700 pages. Daily
working notes and corrections are extremely valuable, showing how processes were revised to improve
quality, reduce expense, or take account of variability in raw materials. Clearly Winsor & Newton were
continuously concerned with controlling the quality of their products: the books include observations
regarding the choice of raw materials with details of testing for durability and ageing. Being able to
determine what materials were used to create a given colour or tube paint is essential for interpreting
analytical data from actual 19th century paintings, a period when the colourmen were playing a greater
role in the choice of paint ingredients. According to the Winsor & Newton archive, many tube paints
contained mixtures of pigments and in some the binder was a mixture of oils (linseed and poppy).
Knowing whether an artist mixed a given set of pigments to achieve a colour, or added certain
materials to their paint, or whether this was already done by the paint supplier is significant in
understanding the artists’ individual relationship to his material during this period.
Example of use: Corot’s tube paints
Searching the archive by materials is invaluable for paintings research. If an unexpected compound or
element is noted during analysis of a paint sample, possible explanations for its presence may be found
in the archive database. Undated tubes of paint in a paint-box that belonged to Corot (1796–1875) were
analysed by Hermens et al. (2002). A partly legible label from Winsor & Newton read ‘Roman…’. The
authors speculated that this might be Roman Ochre, but were puzzled because: ‘We found, however,
both yellow ochre and a small amount of chrome yellow…’. The Winsor & Newton database was
searched for ‘Roman’ plus ‘chrome’. This located 12 recipes including two, dated before 1854, for
‘Roman Ochre in Oil. (Artists’).’ Both consisted of Roman Ochre and Raw Sienna in poppy oil, with
the addition of 3 per cent of Deep Chrome. This confirms the identification of the label as appropriate
for Roman Ochre and accounts for the presence of chrome yellow. The attribution of the tube to Corot
himself is possible as the recipe’s date (circa 1854) falls within his lifetime.
The Winsor & Newton page-image database
An image of a recipe in the original document, and the text-based summary fields for the recipe, are
shown simultaneously in two windows. Thus researchers have access to the original hand-written
recipes and notations at all times. In addition, the database allows readers to page through manuscript
images as if reading the original book, so they are not confined to accessing pages only through the
index alone. Summary fields allow searches for specific recipes, materials and methods, and
chronological and alphabetical sorts. Recipes are also indexed by quantities and proportions of
materials to enable variations or similarities in preparation to be identified quickly. A program was
built to automatically convert from original units to SI units during data-entry so that recipes are
recorded in both. Recipe summaries also include working notes, such as comments regarding time
taken, purity or quality. Page-images ensure that indexing is faster than keying in full texts, especially
when the texts are hard to read. Using images from the original document means that all diagrams,
notes, and so on are also available, but importantly it allows readers to use their own expertise to read
passages that might have been incomprehensible to the first compiler of the database. Visual clues
mentioned earlier (that is, crossing-out, pasted in slips, passages in the same hand but different ink, and
so on) which are absent from printed editions or electronic transcriptions, are fully evident in the
digitized page images.
Indexing limitations
A major problem with compiling or using a comprehensive index or catalogue is that no indexer can
predict all of the keywords that any possible future researcher may require. As research on the archive
progresses, it is therefore essential that new categories (namely new fields in a database) can be
introduced. The choice of a flexible software program (detailed below) to allow this to take place was
essential.
The database as a research tool
Database evolution
One of the essential features of this database design allows it to go beyond an indexing system: the
database will allow researchers to analyse critically the information themselves and to initiate refined
searches of their own design. For example, blank user-definable fields have been set aside to allow
users their own custom data entry and retrieval. A researcher interested in temperature during
manufacture can access all relevant recipes (for example for a given oil), then enter details of
temperature and time into these blank fields. These fields are searchable and can be printed as a
separate report. The intention is that this work could then be incorporated in a version of the database
that other researchers will access and build upon according to their interests and expertise. Individuals’
data-extraction, like temperature and time, will remain for the use of subsequent researchers, perhaps in
ways never anticipated by the original compilers or early users. This feature allows a continuing
dynamic interaction with the primary data so that the database itself can evolve in the depth and
complexity of the information it contains. To function as a research tool the database must also allow
multiple refinements in data analysis. To achieve simplified summary reports there will be several
intermediate steps required. The first step generates an overview of the material. For example, tables of
contents or alphabetical indices of the whole archive, of individual manuscripts, or of found sets of
records. This first step then reveals questions that may be asked of the data. Because researchers can
use blank fields, they have the opportunity to explore new ways in which the data might be searched,
sorted and presented, so as to answer such questions. This is a developing process: the results of each
step in the analysis will suggest further productive ways to extract data.
Further design considerations
The most important feature of the page-image database is instant and easy access to the images of the
original manuscript pages.1 In the case of the Winsor & Newton archive this is not always
straightforward. Often a single recipe consists of coded numerical cross-references to several other
steps which form essential parts of the original (for example, first manufacture two or more raw
ingredients, then combine these to create a final product). To allow access to each step, links
between page-images and recipe summary fields must therefore allow many-to-many links. The
software has been programmed to unite the separate steps in a given recipe into a simple overview
table, even when these steps are described in different books and spread throughout the archive. A
problem specific to historic paint recipes is their terminology. Words for materials vary widely, and it
is easy to misinterpret a term. It is important to index original words and spellings, not just the
presumed interpretation, both to track the history of terminology, and to allow entries to be corrected
based on future interpretations. Keyword indexing, therefore uses both the original language and
interpreted terms, for example ‘copperas’ is also indexed as ‘iron sulphate’. To allow for variability in
historic terminology multiple terms or spellings in the manuscripts are linked to a single interpreted
term. Thus a search for the controlled term ‘iron sulphate’ will find multiple relevant entries such as
‘copperas, vitriol, vitreol, chalcanthum, calcanthum’. These lists and correspondences are managed by
a further related database. The Winsor & Newton database incorporates a button to take researchers to
the authority sited for a given interpretation, usually a published reference. To reflect new information
or understanding, additions or alterations to the controlled vocabulary are possible.
Software choice
An advantage of using commercially available software is that subsequent users may add features and
configure the database to suit their needs. The database was built in FileMaker™ Pro 6.0, by Filemaker
Inc. This commercial software is well-established, well-supported, relatively inexpensive, widely used,
multiplatform (Apple Macintosh and PC), and available in several languages. It can be programmed by
project staff or subsequent researchers relatively easily. It is also possible to make ‘run-time’ versions
of the database that allow users to use the database as a read-only tool without needing to buy a licence.
Imaging considerations
During data entry it was found that the speed of working on a recipe was directly related to the quality
of the digital image. It stands that this will also be the case for researchers using the database. Colour
imaging was found to be essential, both for distinguishing later additions to manuscript pages, and for
improving the contrast between pale or faded inks and coloured paper. Because large image files
slowed the use of the database, high-quality images were archived, and smaller file size (lower quality)
working copies were generated using the batch processing facility of Adobe Photoshop® 7.0. As
computer speed increases, the higherquality images can replace those currently in use. The choice of
technique for digitizing an archive is commonly determined by available funding, for equipment and
for operator time. An inexpensive A4 flatbed scanner using 300 dpi resolution or 24-bit RGB colour
gave excellent results, but unfortunately scanning was slow, requiring about 2 min per page. Because
depth of field is less than for a camera, scanning into the gutter of some books was a problem, and flatbed scanning is inappropriate for large or fragile books. Digital photography, which generated pageimages in a fraction of the time, provided less crisp but certainly adequate images. A Canon Powershot
S60 was used, generating images with 2592 pixels × 1944 pixels, 24-bit RGB, and a mean file size of
1.8 MB, JPEG compressed. Canon digital cameras are currently unique in producing a live video image
directly onto a laptop. Extremely useful for framing the image and for checking lighting, this feature
greatly improved quality and productivity during image capture.
Future developments: the Winsor & Newton database
Ultimately it is intended that the Winsor & Newton archive database will function as a research tool for
historical artists’ materials and techniques. Because Winsor & Newton is still very much an active
company certain restrictions on access will be in place. It is anticipated that upon application to the
company, serious scholars will be issued a password allowing them to access the database which will
be resident at several established institutions, or through a secure web site. Two years of funding have
been secured for image capture, database design and development, and the implementation of a full
subject index of the material relevant to oil painting. This work will be completed by the end of 2005.
Although a functional database will result, further funding will be required to allow data entry for all
current fields in the database including entries for individual materials and amounts used in the recipes.
Future developments: the database as a stand-alone tool
This database structure is ideally suited to the publishing of manuscript sources, and rare published
sources pertaining to art technology. This will be especially useful for mediaeval manuscripts, which
are particularly time-consuming and difficult to edit. Their interpretation typically requires a
collaborative interdisciplinary approach, for which this database structure is ideal. The initial researcher
can index to the limit of his skill, time, or interest, then the electronic version can be passed around
interested readers from various disciplines; each adding their own insights, translations and
interpretations. Ultimately a series of such databases could be combined into a comprehensive wide
ranging historical materials database. Page-image databases are not confined to art technological source
research uses, but would be appropriate for ‘publishing’ all types of manuscript, archive or rare printed
books and for searchable image databases.
Conclusions
The page-image database is time-saving and highly flexible. It combines the advantages of
photographic reproduction with those of electronic text management. The ease of finding relevant
manuscript material, and the search-ability that a database affords, is thus available without laborious
transcription or editing. Diagrams and visual clues are present, and any interpretation can be checked
against the original. Content can be enriched by successive researchers. Currently, when conservators
and conservation scientists wish to consult technical sources to answer questions about a painting’s
composition, the choice is either to refer to the same few sources that are already published, or to face
the rather daunting task of sorting through a vast mass of unpublished material. This new database
design will allow researchers to go directly to the relevant sections in a far wider body of primary
sources.
Acknowledgements
We warmly thank Colart, the parent company of Winsor & Newton for all their support,
encouragement and assistance, especially Richard Goodban, Ian K Garrett, Alun Foster, Emma Pearce
and Sarah Miller. We are indebted to Bas van Velzen for building the draft version of the database, and
to Maartje Witlox for advice on programming. We thank the Instituut Collectie Nederland for hosting
this project and the Stichting Restauratie Atelier Limburg for administrative support. This two year
project is funded by the Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (Netherlands
Organisation for Scientific Research, NWO) and is included within the De Mayerne Programme: we
are grateful for their support.
Note
1 A powerful but simple system for linking and moving between such ‘parent’ recipes and their
components has been devised. The key to this was establishing meaningful file-name and recipe-name
conventions. Each book in the archive was assigned a two character code (for example R1), and each
page was designated P and given a three- digit page number, plus A or B for recto and verso. Each
page-image file was then given a filename based on these two codes, for example the jpeg image for
page 23 of book R1 was named R1P023A.JPG. Each recipe was given a unique code constructed in a
similar way: book code + recipe code + line number of first line (for example L01), so that a recipe
code would appear as R1P023AL01. The advantages of naming a recipe by the number of the first line
in the book where it appears are that (a) it will be a unique code, and (b) if a recipe is combined with
another, there will be no duplication of numbers, nor any difficulty with interpolating a number if the
recipe is subsequently subdivided. The biggest advantage of this system is that the database can use
these codes to extract the necessary information to link recipe and image: for example the image for the
first page of a recipe called R1P023AL01 is clearly R1P023A.JPG, and vice versa. The database can
also automatically assign the relevant bibliographic data to images and to recipes based on these
numbers, which is a great saving in time. These unique recipe codes can also be used by researchers as
references when citing the texts.
References
Hermens, E, Kwakernaak, A, van der Berg, K-J and Geldorf, M, 2002, ‘A travel
experience: the Corot Painting Box: Matthijs Maris and 19th century tube paints’, Art
Matters 1, 104–121.
Woodcock, S, 1995, ‘The Roberson Archive: content and significance’, in A Wallert, E
Hermens and M Peek (eds), Historical Painting Techniques, Materials and Studio Practice,
Getty Conservation Institute, Los Angeles, 30–37.
Woodcock, S and Churchman, J (eds), 1997, Index of Account Holders in the Roberson
Archive 1820–1939, Cambridge.