This month’s Artifact of the Month is a collection of Indian mica paintings (A#1993.005.641.A-O). These fifteen 19th century paintings were created by Indian artists during the colonial period for the Anglo-American souvenir market. Along with other local art, they were so popular amongst government officials, merchants, and missionaries that they came to be known as “Company Paintings” collectively.

This month’s feature is a bookbinding leather roll tool. It is numbered in the Museum’s Collection as #1996.002.31. This tool was used in a process called ‘gold-tooling’, where gold leaf would be applied to the cover of a book. The process used an adhesive called ‘glair’ that would be smeared onto the surface of the leather, followed by the gold leaf. The gold was then coated in grease in order to hold it in place.