Finding Being in Ancestor
A Materials and Making Exercise
XK Bromley- October 10, 2021
Copper (Cu), in any form, can be perceived as an ancestor. Copper not only its physical, is also a character told throughout various oral histories, often presented with a twin brother, as brothers, or even as uncles. These males often became mighty and could do anything. It has been said that the twin brother of Copper, or Man, was said to have talked to animals and given them their names (Erdoes & Ortiz, 2013) (Leeming, 2000) (Haefeli, 2007). And Copper, just like his brother, is a Manitou.
Manitous among Algonquian peoples are any of many spirits residing in objects and phenomena of the natural world, such as animals, trees, water, the earth, and the sky. Copper, his brother, and other elements (our ancestry) could also be called the Sun's sons. These oral histories often told of heating "him" (Copper/ Cu) with fire until 'red hot' and then cooling with water and repeating this multiple times. This annealing process of heating/ cooling to build strength is part of how Cu can further be shaped into forms by humans and carries a lineal descent from an ancestor thru ancestry by extraction. And all of that is also part of the teapot's lineage (https://www.thefreedictionary.com/manitou) (Allan, 1981) (Pleger, 1998) (Kretzschmar & Watt, 2012).
As I don't have time to do justice to the teapot's entire lineage, it is essential to mention that all lineage is multifaceted, complicated for anyone to navigate on their own, and needs much more advanced study to find its path back in time. And lineage studies should not be done haphazardly. But because the industrial revolution, the timeframe when this teapot was made, gives an appears to be the most significant known crime scene against humanity in the entirety of our world. Industrial heritage therefore also needs greater assiduity and possibly forensic labs rather than just celebrating craftsperson exploitations as what has been done by the industrial era practices as criminal against Mother Earth. (Nakamura, 2014) (Fennell, 2021) (McDermid, 2014) (Evans, 2003) (Baird, 2017). Therefore, I will not go further into the lineage arena of the teapot at this time as not to misstep or give misleading information.
But chronology through is the scholarship of retaining the actions from an edict for a given manifestation. The recorded order is after then given a stage to deliver a performance (Stow & Haydn, 2000) (Glassie, 2001). So for this chronology, for this exercise, the manifestation is a copper teapot (or kettle) I found in The Empire Museum in Empire, Michigan. And from quite literally as a bursary of paying dues to false patriarchal interruption for university, the following synopsis is to serve as my performance from documenting the copper teapot's chronology to the best of my abilities at this time withstanding of course copper's much greater lineage tied to the piece and place plus the lack of any provenance for the Empire teapot and it's copper.
Below is a photo I took of the teapot at the museum at the start of the semester. I briefly looked at the kettle at this time. There were no noticeable marks or authorship of who made it or whom it belonged on the vessel. Again, there was no provenance known for the copper teapot. The kettle has even yet to enter into the museum database.
Manitous among Algonquian peoples are any of many spirits residing in objects and phenomena of the natural world, such as animals, trees, water, the earth, and the sky. Copper, his brother, and other elements (our ancestry) could also be called the Sun's sons. These oral histories often told of heating "him" (Copper/ Cu) with fire until 'red hot' and then cooling with water and repeating this multiple times. This annealing process of heating/ cooling to build strength is part of how Cu can further be shaped into forms by humans and carries a lineal descent from an ancestor thru ancestry by extraction. And all of that is also part of the teapot's lineage (https://www.thefreedictionary.com/manitou) (Allan, 1981) (Pleger, 1998) (Kretzschmar & Watt, 2012).
As I don't have time to do justice to the teapot's entire lineage, it is essential to mention that all lineage is multifaceted, complicated for anyone to navigate on their own, and needs much more advanced study to find its path back in time. And lineage studies should not be done haphazardly. But because the industrial revolution, the timeframe when this teapot was made, gives an appears to be the most significant known crime scene against humanity in the entirety of our world. Industrial heritage therefore also needs greater assiduity and possibly forensic labs rather than just celebrating craftsperson exploitations as what has been done by the industrial era practices as criminal against Mother Earth. (Nakamura, 2014) (Fennell, 2021) (McDermid, 2014) (Evans, 2003) (Baird, 2017). Therefore, I will not go further into the lineage arena of the teapot at this time as not to misstep or give misleading information.
But chronology through is the scholarship of retaining the actions from an edict for a given manifestation. The recorded order is after then given a stage to deliver a performance (Stow & Haydn, 2000) (Glassie, 2001). So for this chronology, for this exercise, the manifestation is a copper teapot (or kettle) I found in The Empire Museum in Empire, Michigan. And from quite literally as a bursary of paying dues to false patriarchal interruption for university, the following synopsis is to serve as my performance from documenting the copper teapot's chronology to the best of my abilities at this time withstanding of course copper's much greater lineage tied to the piece and place plus the lack of any provenance for the Empire teapot and it's copper.
Below is a photo I took of the teapot at the museum at the start of the semester. I briefly looked at the kettle at this time. There were no noticeable marks or authorship of who made it or whom it belonged on the vessel. Again, there was no provenance known for the copper teapot. The kettle has even yet to enter into the museum database.
The copper appears hammered to create its shape; the gooseneck spout broken from the form has been wedged back into place. There is minimum patina on the teapot, yet some evidence on the form seem unmistakable and interleaved explicitly to the kettle itself. Before viewing the copper as an ancestor, I kept thinking of it solely as a vessel. Though the teapot did carry water, the kettle is from a pattern that adds complexity to justify the raising of a vessel. After I returned to the museum to see the teapot again, I observed several pieces and parts of the design and spent some more time determining if the teapot was kith or kin.
On Oct. 19, 2021, I did a quick annotated drawing to recall my conversation with the material and to try and remember the copper kettle’s makeup. The sketch is color-coded to better view for me the different pieces and parts of the teapot. The pattern was realized fully on Monday afternoon, Oct. 18, 2021. As mentioned, I had returned to the museum to view the teapot and have a somewhat non-verbal conversation with it. I had minimal access and time to study the kettle but it told me what I needed to hear.
On Oct. 19, 2021, I did a quick annotated drawing to recall my conversation with the material and to try and remember the copper kettle’s makeup. The sketch is color-coded to better view for me the different pieces and parts of the teapot. The pattern was realized fully on Monday afternoon, Oct. 18, 2021. As mentioned, I had returned to the museum to view the teapot and have a somewhat non-verbal conversation with it. I had minimal access and time to study the kettle but it told me what I needed to hear.
I made use of the limitation by taking photos, first, inside the museum under poor lighting. Then outside in the sunlight thru the side door which I had entered into the museum earlier. After two museum caretakers came to check on me, I was left only to be back inside the museum alone with the teapot. After investigating countless web pages & videos about coppersmithing over the weekend before returning to the museum for my second visit, I did remember learning about the idea of a Brazier. A Braziers also called Redsmith) works with copper or brass to make a variety of unique, usually smaller items. [from a webpage: https://workingtheflame.com/coppersmith-tools-list/] One video mentioned that they often were part of a guild. [YouTube Video: Coppersmith, Peter Goebel Brazier https://youtu.be/ylcoJUauMGs]
If a guild member made the pot, that meant that they often would have left a mark or stamp on their work. Now somewhat trapped and out of time at the museum, I held the teapot up in the poor light inside. I spun the vessel around in my hands, asking where it was, for somehow ancestor to please tell me. Then, I saw it—a mark. But then I saw another mark, and another mark and another.
I realized it wasn't a guild mark. Similar in appearance to dovetailing in woodworking, it would be called a cramp seam in metalsmithing. I was grateful to have finally seen the cramp seam on the bottom of the kettle. I knew I took a photo of the base in the sunlight so I could study it more at home, and I did say thank you quietly as I set it back down on the stove where it is displayed before I left the museum. Having begun seeing and learning a new language, I raced home to find how the teapot came together. I thought of the medicine wheel on my drive home. How does from 2 in the void create 4? And 4 to 8, 8 to 16- the number in the teapot's bottom cramp seam, it is because, it is a circle. [Webpage: All about Dovetails]
If a guild member made the pot, that meant that they often would have left a mark or stamp on their work. Now somewhat trapped and out of time at the museum, I held the teapot up in the poor light inside. I spun the vessel around in my hands, asking where it was, for somehow ancestor to please tell me. Then, I saw it—a mark. But then I saw another mark, and another mark and another.
I realized it wasn't a guild mark. Similar in appearance to dovetailing in woodworking, it would be called a cramp seam in metalsmithing. I was grateful to have finally seen the cramp seam on the bottom of the kettle. I knew I took a photo of the base in the sunlight so I could study it more at home, and I did say thank you quietly as I set it back down on the stove where it is displayed before I left the museum. Having begun seeing and learning a new language, I raced home to find how the teapot came together. I thought of the medicine wheel on my drive home. How does from 2 in the void create 4? And 4 to 8, 8 to 16- the number in the teapot's bottom cramp seam, it is because, it is a circle. [Webpage: All about Dovetails]
After reviewing photos and searching for a seam on the vessel I found it in line with the spout; I called out "there it is!" to my husband and son. They both had considered me mad with my desire to understand just how someone tinkered this perplexing ship- I needed to know how the pot happened into itself, to be- to being. One of the videos I watched showed such a flow state of fabrication of a copper vessel. I didn't re-watch it, but I can almost see it forever now when I closed my eyes without having to rewatch, how the man put together his pieces. That was how one built this teapot, just maybe not as carefree as the Roma man in flow state on the video. [Youtube Video: Roma Crafts - Coppersmith https://youtu.be/1r7gyUS3EzY]
From a sheet of copper, pieces are cut. None of the teapot's provenance maintained of the acquired copper. Therefore, where the copper is from is unknown, as is where or who produced the copper sheet to make this specific Empire Museum teapot. There is much we could assume, but again, I will stop before I make a misstep or give misleading information. The maker may or may not have a pattern to begin making the teapot, but at least one pattern (the teapot itself) is created from making the copper teapot. The pieces and parts are arranged together through various means and measures such as hammering, welding, fusing, and flux.
The top knob on the lid could be brass, an alloy made from Copper and Zinc. The knob may or may not have been original to the teapot. The teapot lid flipped over, shows how the knob is attached to it in the lid's base. It also shows what may be tin lining, but I am not sure at this time if the piece was lined with tin as I, myself, can't tell just by sight. Greater investigating would need to be done.
The top knob on the lid could be brass, an alloy made from Copper and Zinc. The knob may or may not have been original to the teapot. The teapot lid flipped over, shows how the knob is attached to it in the lid's base. It also shows what may be tin lining, but I am not sure at this time if the piece was lined with tin as I, myself, can't tell just by sight. Greater investigating would need to be done.
With a google search, I found several interesting, much older books on coppersmithing ranging from 1855 to 1911. The Art of Coppersmithing A Practical Treatise on Working Sheet Copper Into All Forms by John Fuller shows a similar teapot to the Empire Museum kettle with general instructions for construction, including mounting options and formation of the tea kettle body starting on pages 58 to 78. The book also gives excellent illustrations to form a tea kettle using copper. Today it is accessible online with the use of Google books. The complete list given of these older books I found on google books follows this paragraph. Additionally given are all the videos I sourced. Lastly, please see my references. Thank you.
Google Books
Art of Coppersmithing A Practical Treatise on Working Sheet Copper Into All Forms By John Fuller · 1911
Employment Opportunities for Handicapped Men in the Coppersmithing Trade By Bert Jasper Morris 1918
Practical Sheet and Plate Metal Work- For the Use of Boilermakers, Braziers, Coppersmiths, Ironworkers, Plumbers, Sheet Metalworkers, Tinsmiths, Whitesmiths, Zincworkers, and Others By Evan Arthur Atkins · 1908
The book of trades, arts, & professions By Peter Parley (pseud.) · 1855
YouTube Videos
Coppersmith, Peter Goebel- Brazier https://youtu.be/ylcoJUauMGs
Copper - Antiques with Gary Stover https://youtu.be/Ex5nASwVv54
Raising a Copper Vessel, Start by Sinking https://youtu.be/NKcTU7NA5Lc
Michigan Copper Mining: The Black Powder Era https://youtu.be/5MuaIdEkI7M
GREAT LAKES ARCHAIC INDIANS: THE ORIGINS OF PREHISTORIC METAL TECHNOLOGY IN EASTERN NORTH AMERICA https://youtu.be/Pmjms3JiS1s
Old Copper Culture: North America's Forgotten Metal Workers https://youtu.be/cpmMY_Rcbd8
COPPER ARTIFACT TYPOLOGY https://youtu.be/ekWRhMS-494
Ancient Egyptians Were Mining Copper from the Great Lakes? Ask an Archaeologist pt. 3 https://youtu.be/CBN6HfzCRcU
Roma Crafts - Coppersmith https://youtu.be/1r7gyUS3EzY
Metal 1 https://youtu.be/scdb18Mp4ac
Modern Marvels: How Copper Built the World (S13, E37) | Full Episode | History
https://youtu.be/ImQK4LPBHu4
How to Fix a Teakettle Spout https://youtu.be/LF5Gv5DdcQ8
Scenic Stops: Copper Kettle Factory S2 https://youtu.be/5xlG0gQwUyc
Copper Kettle Shop (D. Picking & Co.) Bucyrus, Ohio https://youtu.be/y78GMMMJd8o
How a Former Rocket Scientist Makes the Best Copper Pots in America — Handmade
https://youtu.be/mTztlpAcips
Medieval Iron Production in Holland Thijs van de Manakker - smelting ore https://youtu.be/F3rjjpuhCLI
From Rock to Copper Metal https://youtu.be/3nneL6zDEMA
Copper Cookware Seams https://youtu.be/xvnE-Mx55g0
How Vintage Copper Cookware Was Made https://youtu.be/I_83dlwTm9w
How to Make A Cookware Lid Part 2 of 2 https://youtu.be/JRf26OCq8ek
Tom Roche - Tinsmith https://youtu.be/afVMMvBUxeI
DVD from Glen Lake Library
Red metal: the Copper Country strike of 1913 (2013)
Media- DVD 331.89 Red
Quality control: from ore to finished product (1995)
[Calumet to Detroit]
Media- DVD 622.343 From
References
Allan, S. (1981). Sons of suns: myth and totemism in early China. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and Arican Studies, 44(2), 290-326.
Baird, M.F. (2017). Critical theory and the anthropology of heritage landscapes. University Press of Florida.
Carter, Sarah Anne (2013) This is Not a Chair. Pedagogical film. The Chipstone Foundation.
Erdoes, R., Ortiz, A. (2013). American Indian Myths and Legends. United Kingdom: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.
Evans, Colin. (2003). A Question of Evidence: The Casebook of Great Forensic Controversies, From Napoleon to O.J. Chapter 9 Steven Truscott (1959) A Time for Dying. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Idea behind 'conversation quick annotated drawing'. Pg . 137 Map of County Road.
Fennell, C. C. (2021). The Archaeology of Craft and Industry.
Glassie, Henry (2001) excerpts from Material Culture. Bloomington: Indiana University.
Haefeli, E. (2007). On first contact and apotheosis: Manitou and men in North America. Ethnohistory, 54(3), 407-443.
Kretzschmar, K., & Watt, F. M. (2012). Lineage tracing. Cell, 148(1-2), 33-45.
Leeming, D. A., & Page, J. (2000). The mythology of native North America. University of Oklahoma Press.
McDermid, Val. (2014) Forensics: What Bugs, Burns, Prints, DNA, and More Tell Us about Crime. Grove Press. Chapter 8 Anthropology, 165-189.
Nakamura, Lisa. (2014) “Indigenous Circuits: Navajo Women and the Racialization of Early Electronic Manufacture,” American Quarterly, vol. 66, no. 4 (Dec 2014): 919–941.
Pleger, T. C. (1998). Social complexity, trade, and subsistence during the Archaic/Woodland transition in the Western Great Lakes (4000-400 BC): A diachronic study of copper-using cultures at the Oconto and Riverside cemeteries. The University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Stow, W., & Haydn, T. (2000). Issues in the teaching of chronology. Issues in history teaching, 83, l.
Art of Coppersmithing A Practical Treatise on Working Sheet Copper Into All Forms By John Fuller · 1911
Employment Opportunities for Handicapped Men in the Coppersmithing Trade By Bert Jasper Morris 1918
Practical Sheet and Plate Metal Work- For the Use of Boilermakers, Braziers, Coppersmiths, Ironworkers, Plumbers, Sheet Metalworkers, Tinsmiths, Whitesmiths, Zincworkers, and Others By Evan Arthur Atkins · 1908
The book of trades, arts, & professions By Peter Parley (pseud.) · 1855
YouTube Videos
Coppersmith, Peter Goebel- Brazier https://youtu.be/ylcoJUauMGs
Copper - Antiques with Gary Stover https://youtu.be/Ex5nASwVv54
Raising a Copper Vessel, Start by Sinking https://youtu.be/NKcTU7NA5Lc
Michigan Copper Mining: The Black Powder Era https://youtu.be/5MuaIdEkI7M
GREAT LAKES ARCHAIC INDIANS: THE ORIGINS OF PREHISTORIC METAL TECHNOLOGY IN EASTERN NORTH AMERICA https://youtu.be/Pmjms3JiS1s
Old Copper Culture: North America's Forgotten Metal Workers https://youtu.be/cpmMY_Rcbd8
COPPER ARTIFACT TYPOLOGY https://youtu.be/ekWRhMS-494
Ancient Egyptians Were Mining Copper from the Great Lakes? Ask an Archaeologist pt. 3 https://youtu.be/CBN6HfzCRcU
Roma Crafts - Coppersmith https://youtu.be/1r7gyUS3EzY
Metal 1 https://youtu.be/scdb18Mp4ac
Modern Marvels: How Copper Built the World (S13, E37) | Full Episode | History
https://youtu.be/ImQK4LPBHu4
How to Fix a Teakettle Spout https://youtu.be/LF5Gv5DdcQ8
Scenic Stops: Copper Kettle Factory S2 https://youtu.be/5xlG0gQwUyc
Copper Kettle Shop (D. Picking & Co.) Bucyrus, Ohio https://youtu.be/y78GMMMJd8o
How a Former Rocket Scientist Makes the Best Copper Pots in America — Handmade
https://youtu.be/mTztlpAcips
Medieval Iron Production in Holland Thijs van de Manakker - smelting ore https://youtu.be/F3rjjpuhCLI
From Rock to Copper Metal https://youtu.be/3nneL6zDEMA
Copper Cookware Seams https://youtu.be/xvnE-Mx55g0
How Vintage Copper Cookware Was Made https://youtu.be/I_83dlwTm9w
How to Make A Cookware Lid Part 2 of 2 https://youtu.be/JRf26OCq8ek
Tom Roche - Tinsmith https://youtu.be/afVMMvBUxeI
DVD from Glen Lake Library
Red metal: the Copper Country strike of 1913 (2013)
Media- DVD 331.89 Red
Quality control: from ore to finished product (1995)
[Calumet to Detroit]
Media- DVD 622.343 From
References
Allan, S. (1981). Sons of suns: myth and totemism in early China. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and Arican Studies, 44(2), 290-326.
Baird, M.F. (2017). Critical theory and the anthropology of heritage landscapes. University Press of Florida.
Carter, Sarah Anne (2013) This is Not a Chair. Pedagogical film. The Chipstone Foundation.
Erdoes, R., Ortiz, A. (2013). American Indian Myths and Legends. United Kingdom: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.
Evans, Colin. (2003). A Question of Evidence: The Casebook of Great Forensic Controversies, From Napoleon to O.J. Chapter 9 Steven Truscott (1959) A Time for Dying. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Idea behind 'conversation quick annotated drawing'. Pg . 137 Map of County Road.
Fennell, C. C. (2021). The Archaeology of Craft and Industry.
Glassie, Henry (2001) excerpts from Material Culture. Bloomington: Indiana University.
Haefeli, E. (2007). On first contact and apotheosis: Manitou and men in North America. Ethnohistory, 54(3), 407-443.
Kretzschmar, K., & Watt, F. M. (2012). Lineage tracing. Cell, 148(1-2), 33-45.
Leeming, D. A., & Page, J. (2000). The mythology of native North America. University of Oklahoma Press.
McDermid, Val. (2014) Forensics: What Bugs, Burns, Prints, DNA, and More Tell Us about Crime. Grove Press. Chapter 8 Anthropology, 165-189.
Nakamura, Lisa. (2014) “Indigenous Circuits: Navajo Women and the Racialization of Early Electronic Manufacture,” American Quarterly, vol. 66, no. 4 (Dec 2014): 919–941.
Pleger, T. C. (1998). Social complexity, trade, and subsistence during the Archaic/Woodland transition in the Western Great Lakes (4000-400 BC): A diachronic study of copper-using cultures at the Oconto and Riverside cemeteries. The University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Stow, W., & Haydn, T. (2000). Issues in the teaching of chronology. Issues in history teaching, 83, l.
Copper Kettle, the classic American folk song about making moonshine, with Conrad Praetzel (aka Clothesline Revival) on guitars and vocals, accompanied by Gary Pierazzi on bass and keyboards. Recorded June 2020.