Washerwomen as part of larger Landscapes.

In renaissance art laundresses are often part of a larger scene, a backdrop to more important views or activities. Work has to be done, clothes need to be cleaned, but as a subservient activity, not worthy of much detail. Which is telling of the way washerwomen would have been treated: for instance in Renaissance Italy to be called a son of a lavandaia (washerwoman) was a career killer, and while clean laundry was regarded as proper in renaissance Dutch, the squalor and mess of dirty laundry was not to be associated with!

 

River valley lined with castles on hilltops; after Mirou; in foreground a man holding an axe greeting a figure on horseback; a maid crossing a footbridge with a small herd of cows; and a washerwoman in right foreground; from a series of six large landscapes after Mirou and Paul Bril. 

German, c.1620-22. Etching, by Matthäus Merian I.

The courtyard of a farm with, in the centre, a man addressing an old woman gathering firewood; three women washing laundry under the porch of the building on the left.

French, ca.1620-40. Etching by François Collignon.

Village, with, on the left carriage approaching the entrance of a castle; in the middle, man at fountain; on the right, washerwoman washing laundry in a pond. 

French, ca.1620-37. Etching by Nicolas de Son.

Plate 6: Landscape with a peasant crossing a bridge at centre, some village-houses and a chariot at left, two washerwomen in lower left corner, a road with figures at right, a city in far distance; second state with publisher's address; after Adriaen van Nieulandt. 

Dutch, ca.1629-52. Etching by Pieter Nolpe.

 

A classical landscape with in the left foreground a man and a woman walking on a road, preceeded by a boy (Cupid?) carrying a quiver and a spear); nearby, at left, a man addresses another, who sits on a stone; beyond, a river, with washerwomen on the right. 

French, ca.1660-1700. Etching, Anonymous.

 

The summer-house of Cuniberto de Wenzelsberg. Landscape with a large house and gardens decorated with statues in the centre, a brook with several washerwomen and horsemen in the foreground; a banner held by storks with dedication in the top right corner; second state with
retouchings added in the sky and in the foreground. 

Dutch, 1664. Etching and engraving by Jan van Ossenbeeck.

Landscape with a meandering river at left, three washerwomen on the river-bank, a bridge with some houses on either side beyond, a mountain in far distance; after Titian. 

Italian, 1682. Etching by Valentin Lefebre.

All images royalty free from the British Museum Image Database. 

Ashenburg, Katherine. The Dirt on Clean, an Unsanitized History. North Point Press, NY, 2007: p.110.

Biow, Douglas. The Culture of Cleanliness in Renaissance Italy. Cornell University Press, NY, 2006: p.125..

Stick a Feather in and Squeeze... testing the strength of lye.

"the most difficult part of early soapmaking was determining if the lye was the correct strength. the “lye water” was considered the proper strength to make soap when an egg or small potato placed in the solution floated about halfway beneath the surface of the solution. if the egg or potato floated on top, the lye was too strong. if it sank quickly, the lye was too weak. some early soapmakers used goose or chicken feathers to test their lye. if a feather inserted in the lye water began to dissolve in it, then the lye water was at the right strength."
From http://www.ecobeings.com/soap-information/history-of-soap

"Unfortunately, we only made around a quart to begin with, so we'll only be left with a few drops at the end--not enough to do much with (even dissolve a feather, which was another test of lye strength we were going to try)."
From http://homesteadlaboratory.blogspot.com/2014/02/historical-lye-making-part-2.html

"Lye Water Strength: If an egg or potato will float just below halfway, or a chicken feather starts to dissolve in it, then the lye water is at the right strength."
From http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_ashlye.html


As you see, the idea of using a goose feather is prevalent on blogs and websites talking about historic drip lye soap making. But I've never been able to place the technique and further back than hearsay US Colonial times... until I was browsing through a late medieval German spot removal manual which has a couple of oddball recipes in the back, including To soften horn so much it can be formed into forms. And low and behold, there was a mention to using a feather to test the strength of lye, including how to use it! I'd tried it myself and from just sticking it in and looking nothing much happened (except leaving it in overnight resulted in some gorgeous crystals forming on the edges). I am looking forward by the next batch of fresh lye to go get a feather from the backyard, try it this way, and see what happens!


To soften horn so much it can be formed into forms. 
Take one pound of the ashes used in making glass, one pound unslaked lime, one "mass" water, allow to boil together until two thirds are evaporated, then stick a feather in and squeeze it between two fingers: if the hairs come off, the boiling has been enough, otherwise let boil longer; let it clarify and pour off, put in small chips of horn and let soften for two days, smear oil on your hands and the horn to make a paste and press into what you wish.

From the Allerley Matkel (1532) by Sidney Edelstein, Technology and Culture, Vol 5 no 3 (Summer 1964), pp. 297-321 - includes the original fascimile text with a translation and discussion.

Scented balls, the Tudor way!

Using bar soap to make something else is a time honored tradition. In the 16th century in Tudor times grated soap could be bought at the Apothecary as an ingredient for scented soap balls (and rather strange medicines…). Intriguing recipes of that time exist, with quite curious ingredients; from oil of spike (a type of lavender) to civet (an excretion of the civet cat, used in perfumery) – if it smelled nice, or otherwise helped a woman’s self-image by bleaching (white hands), scrubbing (calluses), dyeing (rosy cheeks) or smoothing (wrinkles), pretty much anything went…

 

Soap balls: not only for the young but also the young at heart!

White soap was known for many centuries but it was not until the Middle Ages that it came into widespread use. White soap had two distinct advantages over soft soap, or black soap. Its basic ingredient olive oil was easy and pleasant to work with compared to animal fat of questionable age and hygiene. It also sets into solid bars and therefore can be shredded, which makes it possible for the customer to mold and scent soaps to the customers’ personal taste.

Despite the general modern believe that people back then did not bathe much at all, the Tudors did keep themselves clean –by continuously changing and laundering their underclothes and by sponge bathing. Henry VIII and other royals had permanent plumbed-in bathrooms, like those built at Hampton Court and Whitehall. Of course, these magnificent bathrooms were great luxuries. Bathing for the average person meant having to fill a wooden tub with water – which was time consuming without indoor plumbing or gas ranges and not something they would bother to do regularly. An interest in personal cleanliness did develop around that time as Tudor style clothes were tight fitting and often of not easy to clean fabrics – as shown by various toiletry soaps and stain removal recipes that began to show up in various household instruction manuals of that time.

Sir Hugh Plat, in his Delightes for Ladies to adorne their Persons, Tables, Closets, and Distillatories with Beauties, Banquets, Perfumes & Water (1609), shares a great recipe for 'a delicate washing ball’:

Take three ounces of Orace, half an ounce of Cypres, two ounces of Calamus Aromaticus, one ounce of Rose leaves, two ounces of Lavender flowres: beat all these together in a mortar, searching them thorow a fine Searce, then scrape some castill sope, and dissolve it with some Rose-water, then incorporate all your powders therewith, by labouring of them well in a mortar.

Another nice recipe comes from The secretes of the reuerende Maister Alexis of Piemount (1558) by Girolamo Ruscelli, on how to make ‘Vvhite musked Sope’:

Take Sope scraped or grated, as much as you will the whiche (when ye haue well stieped and tempered in rose water) leaue it eight dais in the sunne: Than you shall adde to it an vnce of the water or milk of Macaleb, twlue graines of Muske, and sixe graines of Ciuet, and reducinge all the whole into the fourme and maner of harde past, you shall make therof very excellent balles. 

Making soap balls is easy, as all one needs to do is grate soap into slivers (by hand or with a kitchen machine), add a tiny bit of water or milk to make the slivers sticky, kneed a bit by hand and then roll the sticky mass into a ball. Dry for a few days and the soap is ready to be used. Plain olive oil based soap like Castile Soap would be close to period. This project also makes for quite a fun kid’s activity, especially when they get to hand grind smelly botanicals to add to their own kid sized shaped balls of soap. Check out your local Asian store for a coarse stone mortar and pestle, pick up some herbs and spices like cinnamon sticks, star anise, cloves, lily flowers & rose buds and with the help of your energetic kids grind up a pinch of this and that, and kneed this into your sticky mass before shaping. The bits and pieces will also add scrub to your soap, along with an amazing, hand made scent. And your kids might actually be inspired to wash their hands before dinner now they’ve made their own soap… a win-win situation if you ask me!

 

Look, we made balls!

What are plausible ingredients for period washing balls? You can try dried moss for a scrubbing soap; Cedarwood, Sandalwood, Musk & Civet essential oils for that spicy woodsy scent; (distilled) rose water, ground rose petals & buds, ground lavender buds & lily flowers for a nice floral scent; dried herbs like mint, lemon balm, rosemary & sage for that clean herbal scent. And of course the less usual but very period ingredients like Orace (orris root, or Iris rhizome), Cypres (not cypress, but Aram or jack in the pulpit), Calamus Aromaticus (sweet sedge), Amber Grease (ambergris), Benjamin (benzoin), Macaleb (Prumus maheleb), Sandali citrini (yellow saunders wood), gum Oldanum (frankincense), Storax and my personal favorite; oil of Spike (Lavendula spica essential oil)…

 

Using a stone mortar & pestle to grind 

their choice of herbs and spices.

So next time you are shopping online for kitchen spices, or visiting an international market, check out the botanicals to see what unusual scrubs and scents they might have… and make yourself a set of scented balls, the Tudor way!


Bibliography:
http://www.livinghistory.co.uk/homepages/historicalballs/History%20of%20soapmaking.htm

http://onthetudortrail.com/Blog/resources/life-in-tudor-england/tudor-hygiene-part-1-bathing/

Ashenburg K (2007) The Dirt on Clean, an unsanitized history North Point Press, NY

Plat, Sir Hugh (1609) Delightes for Ladies to adorne their Persons, Tables, Closets, and Distillatories with Beauties, Banquets, Perfumes & Water EEBO

Ruscelli, Girolamo (1558) The secretes of the reuerende Maister Alexis of Piemount EEBO

My personal database of soap related Materia Medica.

A most copious and exact Compendium of Sope - Medieval Soap Recipes.

If you've ever wondered how to get your hands on some period recipes for proper documentation in A&S competitions - download A Most Copious and Exact Compendium of Sope! 60+ pages of original recipes with detailed bibliography, links to medieval translation sites for that little extra push and an extensive glossary of unusual ingredients.

Available for download at Academia.edu:
https://www.academia.edu/27795669/A_most_Copious_and_Exact_Compendium_of_Sope

Modern & Medieval Soap Making Compared.

Have you ever daydreamed about making historic soap all the way from start to finish? I did, and after years of making modern soap I finally took the plunge… and what an interesting adventure it became! Digging through old articles and manuscripts, learning to decipher medieval English, a kitchen invaded by weird concoctions bubbling away – how could something seemingly so simple turn out to be so challenging? I found one of the first hurdles I came to in my quest of making medieval soap was technique: as a modern soap maker working with purified lye my modern experiences and techniques did not quite transfer to medieval recipes using wood ash lye…

First things first. To undertake soap making one should be familiar with what soap is and why it works the way it does. In short, soap is a simple molecule with the unusual ability to dissolve fats and oils into water, making it possible to rinse them away. It is made by mixing dissolved hydroxide salts with fatty acids, resulting in fat salts or soap (for instance, tallow mixed with sodium hydroxide becomes sodium tallowate, or tallow soap). This process is called saponification, from the Latin word sapo for soap. And if you are an outdoor enthusiast you might have inadvertently made soap already. Scrubbing a greasy frying pan with campfire ashes does not just scour the dirt away; rinse with a little water and the hydroxide salts in the ashes will combine with the cooking grease into a primitive cleanser – a way of cleaning dishes and laundry that has been with us through Ancient times!

Black soap, or soft soap, gets its name from the dark color of the wood ash lye used to make it (and the cast iron it was often boiled in). Hard soap was made with high quality barilla ashes, which makes a light colored lye (and hard soda soap); therefore white soap quickly equated with high quality hard soap. Why is this important? It’s because sodium hydroxide made from marine and marsh plants makes solid bar soaps, while potassium hydroxide from land based plants makes liquid or soft soaps. Sodium hydroxide is a small molecule with short and tight molecular bonds which creates soap with a strong crystalline structure. Potassium hydroxide is a large molecule, with long weaker molecular bonds, which creates soap with a weak crystalline structure. It’s the lye that makes the soap.

The first mention of soap being used on a human body for cleaning was in the 4th C: French soap was described by Theodorus Priscianus as a material for washing the head. (Dunn, 233) By the 7th C Italian soap makers were organized into craft guilds and the profession of soap maker is mentioned in Charlemagne’s Capitulare de Villis of 805 AD. By the 8th C, soft soap made with oils was common in France, Italy, and Spain, as olive oil was widely available. It is generally accepted that soap was known in England by the 10th C, most likely introduced by the Celts. (Bramson, 57) Another early reference to soap manufacture is by the monk Richard of Devizes in about 1200CE: “Apud Bristollum nemo est qui non sit vel fuerit saponarius” (about the number of soap makers in Bristol and the smelly nature of their profession). (Matthews, 4) Also by the 12th C, hard soap came into use which was said to be an Arab development later imported into Europe. By the 13th C, the manufacturing of soap in the Islamic world became virtually industrialized, with sources in Nablus, Fes, Damascus, and Aleppo. Around the 13th C, Marseilles emerged as the first great center of European soap making and remained so throughout the Middle Ages. (Bramson, 59) Genoa, Venice, and Bari in Italy and Castile in Spain also became epicenters of soap making due to their natural resources. (Bramson, 57) All had abundant supplies of olive oil and barilla, (Bramson, 57) a sodium rich plant whose ashes were used to make soda lye, a perfect combination to make a beautiful hard white bar of soap.

Since hard soap can be shredded and reformed soap balls came into being, a luxury product used by the upper classes. In Tudor times botanicals were introduced into soap, and scented soap became a "must-have" item of the elite. Fine soaps were produced in Europe from the 16th century on, and many of these soaps are still produced, both industrially and by small-scale artisans. Castile soap is a popular example of the vegetable-only soaps evolved from the oldest “white soap” of Italy.

[SIDENOTE: As soap was considered a luxury, English soap manufacturers had to pay a heavy tax on all the soap they made. Because of this heavy tax, soap was very expensive, sometimes even cost prohibitive to make, and did not come into common use in England until after the tax was repealed in 1852! (Bramson, 59)]


THE DIFFERENT SOAP MAKING TECHNIQUES

MELT AND POUR SOAP
In modern times, this soap is not made from scratch but is bought in a store ready to use and is formulated to melt and reconstitute with minimal issues. As the soap is already processed, it needs no curing time. It comes in two versions, melt and pour soap and melt and pour glycerin. Glycerin soap is the see through soap which is moisturizing and fun to suspend objects in, like pretty botanicals (and toys) as you can see them floating about.

Historically, soap could be bought plain at the Apothecary and used as an ingredient in medicines. Especially prevalent in 16th C medicinal manuscripts, soap used as an ingredient in recipes was well practiced, either for its medicinal benefits or for its easy carrier function.

Medieval examples of re-cooked and dissolved soap recipes:

For the black jaundice.
Take genciana [gentian], long peper [Piper longum], calamus aromaticus [sweet sedge], auencis [unknown], lycores [liqueur], raisins of currants [dried currants], white soap of Spain, of every  i. 3. and two spoonfuls of mustard, and boil all these in a quart of wine until a third is evaporated, and let the patient drink it.
This is the glasse of helth. by Thomas Moulton, 1547.

An excellent soap for scabies and itch.
Take white soap half a di. and steep in sufficient rose water, until it is well soaked, then take two dragmes of mercury sublimed [mercuric chloride], dissolve it in a little rosewater, mix the soap and the rosewater well together, and afterwards add a little musk or civet, and keep it. This is the best to cure a great scabies or itch without harm.
A short discours of the excellent doctour and knight by Leonardo Fioravanti, 1588.

And if you are indisposed to break the skin, and let your humours [blood] out (as by such manner one is eased), you shall make a little plaster of black soap and aqua vite [grain alcohol], which will blister it without any great pain.
The regiment of life by Jean Goeurot, 1550.


TRANSLUCENT SOAP
By cooking a basic soap with granulated sugar and alcohol it is possible to create a translucent soap (this is not glycerin soap, but glycerin can be added as a moisturizer). I have not found any historic recipe using a similar technique or ingredients.


HAND MILLED & GRATED SOAP
A modern way of making several kinds of soaps without making a batch of each is to make one large batch of base soap, grate that down, and use as needed. The grated soap is melted au-bain-marie in a 1:2 water to soap mixture. Heat the water to 180 degrees and add the grated soap. When soap and water have blended and the mixture turns clear, herbs, spices and essential oils can be added. Be aware certain essential and fragrance oils do not deal well with heat and can evaporate, so check to make sure your choice of essential or fragrance oil works with a hand milled soap. Hand milled soaps and rebatched soaps are similar as both are grated and reheated with water, except in the case of rebatched soap only a little water is added. This technique is often used to save cold-process soaps that went wrong and need to be re-cooked.

Commercial soap is also milled, but by machines that press freshly made soap between sets of rollers to flatten it paper thin. It gets shredded, and the soap flakes are ground through the rollers again and again, squeezing and mixing them together. Then it goes through an extrusion machine to squeeze out a long bar of tightly compacted soap flakes, that gets cut into individual bars.
   
By the Renaissance, soap could be bought premade and used as an ingredient in medicines, laundry and toiletry soaps. Especially in Tudor England hard white soap would be used grated to make specially scented and herbed soap balls or wash balls.

[SIDENOTE: Despite the general modern believe that people back then did not bathe much at all, the Tudors did keep themselves clean –by continuously changing and laundering their underclothes and by sponge bathing. Henry VIII and other royals had permanent plumbed-in bathrooms, like those built at Hampton Court and Whitehall. Of course, these magnificent bathrooms were great luxuries. As Tudor style clothes were tight fitting and often of not easy to clean fabrics an interest in personal cleanliness developed around that time – as shown by various toiletry soaps (and stain removal recipes) that began to show up in various household instruction manuals (livinghistory)]

Sir Hugh Plat, in his Delightes for Ladies to adorne their Persons, Tables, Closets, and Distillatories with Beauties, Banquets, Perfumes & Water, shares a great recipe for 'a delicate washing bal’:

Take three ounces of Orace [orris, or Iris rhizome], half an ounce of Cypres [Arum or jack in the pulpit], two ounces of Calamus Aromaticus [sweet sedge], one ounce of Rose leaves, two ounces of Lavender flowers: beat all these together in a mortar, push them through a fine sieve, then scrape some Castile sope, and dissolve it with some rosewater, then incorporate all your powders together, by working them over well in a mortar.
Delightes for Ladies (1609) by Sir Hugh Plat

Another nice on how to make ‘White musked Soap’:

Take soap scraped or grated, as much as you need the which (when you have well steeped and tempered in rose water) leave it eight days in the sun: Then you shall add to it an ounce of the water or milk of Macaleb [Prumus maheleb], twelve grains of musk, and six grains of civet, and reduce all together into the form and manner of a hard paste, you shall make of this very excellent balls.
The secretes of the reuerende Maister Alexis of Piemount (1558) by Girolamo Ruscelli

Making soap balls is easy, as all one needs to do is grate soap into slivers (by hand or with a kitchen machine), add a tiny bit of water or milk to make the slivers sticky, kneed a bit by hand and then roll the sticky mass into a ball. Dry for a few days and the soap is ready to be used. Plain olive oil based soap like Castile Soap most similar to medieval white soap.


LIQUID SOAP
Modern liquid soap can be made by dissolving sodium hydroxide soap into water, which it does not like to do naturally, or by making soap with potassium hydroxide. Modern potassium hydroxide soaps are similar to medieval soft soap, as potash lye is the natural form of potassium hydroxide; with contaminants and of uncertain strength.

Caustic potash, the natural source of potassium hydroxide, was generally available because of wood heating and cooking. By leaching caustic ash with soft water (predominantly rain water) lye or hydroxide was formed. This lye solution would be weak compared to modern lye, at about pH11, and would have many other minerals in solution; like sulfites, chlorides and carbonates - most of which are of no use and can even detrimental to the saponification process. Weak drip lye could be evaporated to concentrate its strength, which also helped to remove unwanted salts as most would settle out of suspension and the still dissolved lye could be poured right off. Drip lye could also be fortified by calcining the ashes with lime, thereby oxidizing ash carbonates into hydroxides and raising the pH of the lye.

[SIDENOTE: Black soap was, as shown by many price agreements where it was sold in small pots, or bulk in vats, a soft soap.  (Matthews, 4) In 1511 there was controversy among London soap boilers regarding the composition of black soap. In 1624 the Bristol City Council made an ordinance that Bristol soap could only be made from olive oil, with the interests of southern merchants in mind. (Matthews, 4) An earlier a soapmakers’ ordinance from 1603 expressly forbade any soapmaker to buy tallow after successful lobbying by the Chandlers and train oil (from marine mammals) was not allowed on penalty of heavy fines! (Matthews, 5)]

From the Mappae Clavicula comes the following soap recipe using wood ash lye. This recipe uses the word “clarified” in connection with evaporated lye, which I interpret to mean the lye was decanted off its sediments. Especially in older recipes from Guild sources information can be presented incomplete or out of order, in this case mentioning heat after clarification, but since later period recipes confirm the process this interpretation makes the most sense.

280. How soap is made from olive oil or tallow
Spread well burnt ashes from good logs over woven wickerwork made of withies, or on a thin-meshed strong sieve, and gently pour hot water on them so that it goes through drop by drop. Collect the lye in a clean pot underneath and strain it two or three times through the same ashes, so that the lye becomes strong and colored. This is the first lye of the soapmaker. After it has clarified well let it cook, and when it has boiled for a long time and has begun to thicken, add enough oil and stir very well. Now, if you want to make the lye with lime, put a little good lime in it, but if you want it to be without lime, let the above-mentioned lye boil by itself until it is cooked down and reduced to thickness. Afterwards, allow to cool in a suitable place whatever has remained there of the lye or the watery stuff. This clarification is called the second lye of the soapmaker. Afterwards, work [the soap] with a little spade for 2, 3 or 4 days, so that it coagulates well and is de-watered, and lay it aside for use. If you want to make [your soap] out of tallow the process will be the same, though instead of oil put in well-beaten beef tallow and add a little wheat flour according to your judgment, and let them cook to thickness, as was said above.
Mappae Clavicula; A Little Key to the World of Medieval Techniques, 12th C.


The following recipe from the Secretes of Alexis of Piemont mentions the correct proportions of lye to oil for a successful soap boil “vnto three pound of the saide lie, you muste haue one pound of oile” and also stresses not to boil but to simmer the soap; for a long, long time.

To make black Sope for clothes, with all the signes and tokens that it giueth and maketh in beiling.
[…]Use 3 pounds of egg bearing lye to 1 pound of oil, pour the oil in and stir and mix well. Do this in the evening so that the infusion can stand overnight. In the morning start to simmer it, for seven to eight hours; if it is over 100 pounds simmer ten hours or more. When it starts to simmer and rise up a lot, take it from the fire and stir it well until it starts to go down again. Keep stirring so it does not get burned to the bottom. When you use a cauldron leave a hand width of space because the soap rises and swells in cooking and oil would be lost. The more it is stirred and the oils incorporate well with the lye, the sooner it simmers. When it has simmered for about eight or nine hours it is time to take samples and check. Make sure to have some first and second lye ready as needed. When it has boiled until the right time you shall see it become thick, and make long and thick bubbles when simmering. To take a sample, take a little with a spoon and put it on a small earthenware dish and let it cool. Then cut it with a little stick and if it closes again it is a sign it has cooked enough; if it does not close, it is not finished, so keep simmering it [this is reversed]. Take many samples and check. [..]
The seconde part of the Secretes of Master Alexis of Piemont by Girolamo Ruscelli, 1560.


[SIDENOTE: Soap was regarded as a luxury item in many western European countries including England and taxed as such, keeping quality soap out of reach of the general public. In 1631 this commodity of soap led to the sale of a monopoly for a million pounds for the making of soap by the Crown to a company at Westminster, which was a death blow to the Bristol soap industry. (Matthews, 3)]


HARD SOAP
Modern hard soap is made with sodium hydroxide lye which is easily available in pure crystal form. It was not until pure crystallized sodium hydroxide was invented and patented by French chemist Nicolas Leblanc in 1790 that exact measured recipes with predictable results were possible, and in combination with advertisements, the soap industry became what it is today.

Historically, sodium lye was made by leaching sodium rich ashes, made from burning marine or marsh plants. Coastal regions with access to these plants, especially Barilla which is known for sequestering sodium chloride in unusual high amount, had access to sodium rich lye and could therefore make hard white soaps. For instance Savon de Marseille and Aleppo soap are well known modern soaps based on century old techniques, with Nabulsi soap tracing its roots all the way to the 10th century.

Liquid soap worked well for cleaning and laundry but dilutes quickly and thus wastes more than hard soap; hard soap was prized for its economy but because of the lower availability of sodium hydroxide much more expensive. One way around this was quickly discovered, and by salting out potassium hydroxide soaps during the cooking process with sodium chloride, or ordinary table salt, an amazing chemical exchange happened. The potassium switches places with the sodium and sodium hydroxide is formed, thereby creating hard sodium hydroxide soap out of soft potassium hydroxide soap!

As the coastal plant barilla is hard to come by, making historic white soap is challenging. One way around this is to burn kelp to ashes, which is available in 50# bags at your local feed store. Kelp is a marine plant and produces sodium lye, but as it does not sequester salt the way barilla does, a lot more kelp is needed compared to barilla. A more modern technique would be to mix calcium oxide (pickling lime) with sodium bicarbonate (baking soda), with the carbonates standing in for the burned plant materials. By adding water sodium hydroxide is formed and can be used to make hard soap with. While this technique mimics the natural ingredients, it does not fully emulate the process as the ashes from burned plants would have other trace minerals and salts.

The Al-mukhtara` fi funun min al- suna` (Inventions from the Various Industrial Arts) by King al-Muzaffar Yusuf ibn `Umar ibn `Ali ibn Rasul of the 13^th century includes a Description of Soap Making. Even though the source of the alkali (al-kily) is not disclosed this is clearly a recipe to make hard soap as at the end it states: The purpose of the mold is to prevent the soap from flowing until it thickens. Leave it for one night and one day until it solidifies. Then cut it with a knife as is usual.

A different type of hard soap is made by adding table salt to a soft soap to salt out and transform it into a hard soap.

When you want to make white soap, use the same materials and techniques and when it is more than halfway cooked, put in some salt, according to the consistency and quantity of it [the soap], and let it boil a little: then take it out of the cauldron, & put it in another & when it begins to boil add more salt and let it simmer to its perfect consistency. To make similar [soap] with Soda, as they use [do] in Venice, the salt must be crushed, and ten pound of it for the hundred [pounds of soap] and mix it all about and put it in a little at a time.
The seconde part of the Secretes of Master Alexis of Piemont by Girolamo Ruscelli, 1560.


COLD PROCESS SOAP
This is the most common soap technique used by soapers worldwide. It uses minimal heat and needs a couple of weeks for the lye to work through its chemical reaction, resulting in about 4 weeks of curing time. The trick with cold process is to have the temperature of the fat/oil mixture and the temperature of the lye/water mixture just right: around 100 degrees F for oils or about 120 degrees F for fats, combined with about 100 degrees F for the lye water. Fat mixtures are heated a little higher as they can solidify at around the target temperatures resulting in false trace.

Due to the fact that cold process soap can only reliably, and safely, be made with accurately measured ingredients, it was not until density was understood that medieval cold process soap recipes start to appear. In the mid 1600’s the egg float test is discovered to test the density of a solution, and as a fresh egg is about the same density as lye, if it is floating with about a quarter of its shell showing, the amount of alkaline salts in solution is of the correct density for laundry soap (also appeared around the same time to check the amount of sugars in solution for fermentation).

The following recipe from the Secretes of Alexis of Piemont (1560) mentions the correct strength of lye used to make laundry soap: “…put the Egge into it, and whiles the egge remaineth aboue…” or a floating egg.
To make black Sope for clothes, with all the signes and tokens that it giueth and maketh in beiling. […] To know the difference between first, second and third lye, take a fresh egg wound around with a thread [to be able to take it back out] and as the first lye comes out float the egg on it. Save this lye for as long as it floats as this is the best lye. […]
From The seconde part of the Secretes of Master Alexis of Piemont by Girolamo Ruscelli, 1560.

Many Colonial recipes for making drip ash lye also mention to use lye that floats an egg (with a quarter of its shell showing) and this is the soap re-enactors complain of as being so harsh. This is Black Soap, or laundry soap and meant to be harsh to better to clean clothes with. It is also harsh on the washed fabrics resulting in wear and tear and if the garments are not rinsed well soap remnants in the clothes are known to itch… good reasons why wealthy households would buy their soap and not make it themselves (difference between just harsh enough and too harsh). This does not mean all soft soap is harsh, only that laundry soap recipes make harsher soaps.

The following medieval cold process recipe on how to make a shampoo, uses a different strength of lye which I found from personal experimentation to be neutral. It mentions “… that will beare an egge swimminge be|twene two waters…” or, the egg is not floating on top, but suspended in the middle. Suspended-egg lye makes near-neutral soap that does not ‘bite’, which makes complete sense as this is a soap meant for personal use. This recipe also confirms the amounts of “thre pottels of lye to a pot of common oyl”; the 3:1 ratio which consistently works well for me. 

A very exquisite soap, made of many things.
Take Aluminis catini [unknown] three ounces, quick lime one part, strong lye that will suspend an egg in the middle, three pottels, a pot of common oil: mingle all well together, add the white of an egg well beaten, and a dishful of meal or flour of Amylum [wheat starch], and an ounce of Romayne Vitrioll [cupric sulphate], or red lead [lead oxide] well beaten into powder, and mix it continually for three hours, then let is stand, for a day, and it will be right and perfect. Finally, take it out, and cut it into pieces: after set it to dry two days, in the wind, but not in the sun. Always use this soap when you wash your head, for it is very wholesome, and makes fair hair.
From The secretes of the reuerende Maister Alexis of Piemount by Girolamo Ruscelli, 1558.


HOT PROCESS SOAP
The modern technique is called hot-process because the saponification process is accelerated with heat. The soap is made similar to cold-process soap, using oil/fats, lye and water. The ingredients are brought to trace, but then the soap is exposed to heat and "cooked" through the saponification process. At the end fragrance and color are added and the soap is poured into a mold. The hot process somewhat changes the appearance of the finished soap from cold-process, but allows the soap to be fully saponified and immediately ready for use within just a few days. It has the same basic function as cold process soaps, but generally a less dense and more "fluffy" appearance and texture, similar to rebatched soaps.

Contrary to what most soap makers assume, this is the technique most commonly used for historic soap making as it is not mandatory to have the exact measurements of lye and fats used to create successful soap. It is possible to add more lye or more fats during the cooking process, to remove or change excess or spent lye water and to remove already formed soap. Historic commercial soap vats would have a drain at the bottom to facilitate draining of spent lye, and this “second lye of the soapmaker”, which was rich in glycerin, would be sold to other artisans. This is also the process used for modern commercial soap making as it is this process that gives the opportunity to separate and remove glycerin from the soap in process (and why artisan made cold-process soap is so much nicer for your skin).


Two examples of Medieval cooked soap:

280. How soap is made from olive oil or tallow
Spread well burnt ashes from good logs over woven wickerwork made of withies, or on a thin-meshed strong sieve, and gently pour hot water on them so that it goes through drop by drop. Collect the lye in a clean pot underneath and strain it two or three times through the same ashes, so that the lye becomes strong and colored. This is the first lye of the soapmaker. After it has clarified well let it cook, and when it has boiled for a long time and has begun to thicken, add enough oil and stir very well. Now, if you want to make the lye with lime, put a little good lime in it, but if you want it to be without lime, let the above-mentioned lye boil by itself until it is cooked down and reduced to thickness. Afterwards, allow to cool in a suitable place whatever has remained there of the lye or the watery stuff. This clarification is called the second lye of the soapmaker. Afterwards, work [the soap] with a little spade for 2, 3 or 4 days, so that it coagulates well and is de-watered, and lay it aside for use. If you want to make [your soap] out of tallow the process will be the same, though instead of oil put in well-beaten beef tallow and add a little wheat flour according to your judgment, and let them cook to thickness, as was said above.
From Mappae Clavicula; A Little Key to the World of Medieval Techniques, 12th C


[1.26.1] On Making Soap XXVI: Take a measure of common oil, and two quarters of capitellum [i.e. potash lye, see 1.26.2] and leave it to boil in some vessel on a slow fire until it arrives at thickness, which you test by putting a drop on marble, if it will have held itself together in shape it is good – and once again  [i.e. as one did for gum] you may know [which capitellum is best] by the taste on the tongue: that which clearly gives a sharp taste – and do this three times, in the same way put in [more capitellum] but that which has less sharp taste following the first, and, lo and behold, Saracen soap.
From Liber diversarum arcium (Book of Various Arts), ca. 1300


CONCLUSION

To summarize, soap has been known and used throughout recorded history but the widespread use of soap as we do now is relatively new. Soap was considered a luxury; it was hard to make and expensive to buy, and would mostly be used where it was needed: an ingredient in medicines, or to clean laundry and household goods. As most of medieval Europe was Christian and Christianity did not place much interest in personal hygiene (it is one of the few religions where personal hygiene is not minutely dictated), cleanliness was up to regional cultures, superstitions and whatever belief medical society would subscribe to. (Ashenburg, 11) Not only were dirty old hermits seen as religiously pure – drawing a connection between dirty of body and pure of mind, but with physicians believing bad vapors were behind most ailments and that a clean body would open the pores to let them in, bathing soon became something to avoid. So for most of medieval Europe soap and water were for cleaning clothes, while people cleaned themselves by changing their under linens and using fragrances to cover up, as much as was possible, any body odors. (Ashenburg, 11)

In medieval times, a chemist was an alchemist – and crafts based in chemistry, like glass making, ceramics, brewing, and soap making were not understood on a modern chemical level. They were learned by trial and error, by years – generations – of practice, and the close kept secrets were passed on from father to son, from master to apprentice…

There be some good Masters and workmen that put in the second lye with the oil, with the intent that the oil might not be damaged so much by its strength, and then they put in a little of the third, and then a little of the fourth, and after that a little of the first: but there is no damage in it, for that happens for the reason that these mix-ups are made in the presence of other men, when the Master does not want them to know for fear that others should easily learn it.
The seconde part of the Secretes of Master Alexis of Piemont by Girolamo Ruscelli, 1560.

INTRIGUED?

I have found there are many historic soap recipes and formula’s available, if you know where to look. To help out the beginner historic soapmaker I compiled a collection of soap formula’s and recipes from the 10^th to 16^th century, including tidbits of soapy fun facts. Available at

https://www.academia.edu/27795669/A_most_Copious_and_Exact_Compendium_of_Sope

Several of my soap making research papers and class hand-outs are available from Academia at

https://independent.academia.edu/susanverberg

BIBLIOGRAPHY

-- (8th C) The Capitulare de Villis: Carolingian Polyptyques. English translation from the University of Leicester at https://www.le.ac.uk/hi/polyptyques/capitulare/site.html

Ashenburg, Katherine (2007) The Dirt on Clean, An Unsanitized History North Point Press, NY

Bramson, Ann Sela (1975) Soap, Making it, Enjoying it Workman Publishing Company

Clarke, Mark (2011) Mediaeval Painters’ Materials and Techniques: the Montpellier ‘Liber diversarum arcium’. London

Dunn, Kevin M. (2003) Caveman Chemistry Universal Publishers

Fioravanti, Leonardo (1588) A short discours of the excellent doctour and knight, maister Leonardo Phiorauanti Bolognese vppon chirurgerie. Translated out of Italyan into English, by Iohn Hester, practicioner in the arte of distillation. (transcribed by Susan Verberg)

Goeurot, Jean (1550) The regiment of life, whereunto is added a treatise of the pestilence, with the boke of children, newly corrected and enlarged by T. Phayre. (transcribed by Susan Verberg)

Matthews, Harold Evan (1940) Proceedings, Minutes and Enrolments of the Company of Soapmakers 1562 – 1642 Bristol Record Society, Great Britain.

Moulton, Thomas (1547) This is the glasse of helth. (transcribed by Susan Verberg)

Plat, Sir Hugh (1609) Delightes for Ladies to adorne their Persons, Tables, Closets, and Distillatories with Beauties, Banquets, Perfumes & Water (transcribed by Susan Verberg)

Ruscelli, Girolamo (1558) The secretes of the reuerende Maister Alexis of Piemount Translated out of Frenche into Englishe, by Wyllyam Warde. (transcribed by Susan Verberg)

Ruscelli, Girolamo (1560) The seconde part of the Secretes of Master Alexis of Piemont by hym collected out of diuers excellent authours, and newly translated out of Frenche into Englishe by William Warde. (transcribed by Susan Verberg)

Smith C S & Hawthorne J G (1974) Mappae Clavicula A little Key to the World of Medieval Techniques. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society for Promoting Useful Knowledge, New Series Vol. 64, Part 4.

Websites used:
http://www.livinghistory.co.uk/homepages/historicalballs/History%20of%20soapmaking.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soap

For ingredient translations I used my personal soap related Materia Medica & Profumatoria database.

© Copyright by Susan Verberg

reproduction for educational purposes by permission only

T bouck va wondre - newly translated Dutch soap recipes

Soap recipes from the Dutch Book of Secrets Dat batement van recepten (That House of Recipes); part of T bouk va wondre (The book of wonders) which was printed in 1513. I include both the original Middle Dutch, and my version of the modern English translation.

© Translations by Susan Verberg, 2016.

32. Om seepe te maken, die, suyuere ende wt doe alderhande smetten, hoe dat si oock zijn.

Neemt steenaluyn, bernes een pont ende maket in poeder, wortelen van vlammen oft waterlelien van Florence, ghepulueriseert een half pont, een versch ey, twee pont ende een half spaensche seepe, stampt die voor(screu)en poederen met dat ey ende die seepe, ende maectere ballekens af. Ende dunct v dat een ey niet genoech en is, nemter also vele als ghi wilt, oft als ghi sien sult behoeflijc te zijn,

om dat voorgenoemde te maken.

Ende als ghi die smette wt doen wilt, neemt schoon water, ende baeyt oft wascht die voorscreuen smette van beyde siden van dat laken, ende dan wrijuet met dat voorscreuen balleken, ende laken op laken; dat ghedaen, wascht die vuylicheyt wt met versch water, dat laken wringende om dat vet wt te doen gaen, dan wascht dat laken noch wederom met versch water, ende het sal schoon blijuen.

32. To make soap, that, purifies all sorts of stains, whatever they might be.

Take rock alum, lees [or alum feces which is burned wine lees, or tartar] one pound and make this in a powder, rhizomes of flames or waterlilies of Florence (orris root), pulverized a half pound, a fresh egg, two pounds and a half of spanish soap, stomp the previously mentioned powders with the egg and the soap, and make little balls thereof. And if you think an egg was not enough, take as many as you like, or as you think is enough, to make the previously mentioned.

And if you want to do something to the stain, take clean water, and soak and wash the mentioned stain of both sides of the sheet, and rub with the mentioned ball, and sheet on sheet; that done, wash the dirtiness out with fresh water, and wring the sheet to get rid of the fat, and wash the sheet again with fresh water, and it will stay clean.

35. Om een smette te doen op scharlaken oft gheuerwet fluweel, sulcks dat die verwe niet en verandere noch bedoruen worde.

Neemt van dat cruyt dat die cruyniers ghemeynlijck heeten soponaria, oft volderscruyt, maecter sap af, hetwelcke ghi op die smette doen sult, ende daer een vre op laten, is 't dat in den somer is, ende is 't inden winter, den tijt van vier vren. Dan neemt laew water ende wascht dat laken bouen die smette, is 't dat v dunct datse niet suyuer wt en gaet, doeter noch van dat voerscreuen sap op.

Ende is 't dat scharlaken in geen greyn geverwet en is, doeter half swarte seepe op, ende half van dat sap van dat voorscreuen cruyt, ende plecket op die smette, dan wasschet met werm water, ende die smette sal vergaen, het is gheprobeert ende gheexperimenteert.

35. To do a stain on a scarlate or [gheuerwet] velvet, such that the dye does not change nor corrupts.

Take the herb that the grocer calls saponaria, or volderscruyt [volderskruid, vollerskruid, fullers herb: Saponaria officinalis], make sap of it, which you shall put on the stain, and keep it on an hour, if it is summer, and if it is winter, the time of four hours.Then take luke warm water and wash the sheet atop the stain, if you think that it does not clean, do more of the mentioned sap on top.

And if the scarlet is not dyed in grain, do half black soap on it, and half of the sap of the mentioned herb, and stick it on the stain, then wash with warm water, and the stain should go, it is tried and experimented.

50. Om schoon haye te maken.

Neemt hout van vaele oft eyloof, ende neemter die wterste schorsse af, sonder meer, ende maket tot asschen. Daerna neemt wy(n)gaertwater ontrent een mengele oft cuperken, maect daer looge af, dan wascht dat hooft seer wel daermede ende drooget in de sonne.

Ende als 't half drooge is, neemt witte seepe gewreuen ende wat ontlaten met de voors. looge, ontrent een half schotel vol, ende laet die seepe dunne zijn als honich. Dan maect v hant in die selue seepe nat, ende wrijfter v hayr mede, latet droogen, dan smeerter v hayr wederomme mede tot drie of vier reysen toe, v droogende als bouen, doet dat tweemael ter weeke, ende ghi sult seer schoon hayr hebben.

50. To make clean hair.

Take wood of vaele [?] or ivy, and take off the outer bark, without a doubt, and make it into ash. Then take vineyard water [?] about a mengele [?] or kuipje, make lye with that, then wash the head with it very well and dry in the sun.

And when it is halfway dry, take white soap lathered up with the mentioned lye, about a half dish full, and let the soap be thin like honey. Then make your hand wet in that soap, and rub it into the hair, let it dry, then rub the hair again to three to four more times, drying in between as above, do that twice a week, and you will have clean hair again.

70. Om welriekende seepe te maken teghen die crauwagie.

Neemt wel stercke looge, in de welcke ghi een weynich souts doen sult, ende latet wel t' samen resolueren.; dan neemt een weynich rooswaters, en 't sap van limoenen, ende also vele van die voors. gesouten looghe. Doet daerinne witte seepe gebroken ende wel cleyn gesneden, ende een weynich groffelsnaghelpoeder; dit suldi laten stil staen tot dat worde gelijc deech, het welcke ghi met eenen stoc omrueren sult in een diepe schotel, dan settet in die sonne tot dat die voors. seepe hert wordt, so dat ghi (daer) lichtelijken ballekens af maken moecht, van alsulcke groote als ghi wilt.

Nae dat ghijse gemaect sult hebben, laetse drooghen, ende daermede suldi alle morgen die handen wasschen, ende en hebt daerna geen sorghe meer van crauwagie, want ghi zijt seker datter niet in dit voors, en is dat v letten mach.

70. To make well scented soap against scabies.

Take strong lye, in which you will do a little bit of salt, and let it well dissolve together; then take a little rosewater, and the juice of lemons, and also much of the mentioned salted lye. Add into this white soap broken and cut up small, and a little gillyflower powder; let this stand until it becomes like dough, which you stir with a stick in a deep dish, then put it in the sun until the mentioned soap becomes hard, so that you can lightly make balls, of the size you like.

After you made them, let them dry, and use them every morning to wash the hands, and you will have no more worry of the scabies, because when you do this before, you won’t bother it.

74. Om een salue te maken, de welcke die weechluysen doot die in een coetse zijn.

Neemt quicsiluer, ende doeget in een schotel met een weynich swarte seepe, ende met den vinger sult ghijt so langhe roeren ende dooden, tot dat het quicksiluer heel met die voors. seepe geincorporeert si, daerna doeter al so veel ander seepen in als ghi wilt, daerna smeert die coetse met die seepe, ende ghi zijt seker dat die weechluysen steruen sullen, ende sult daer mede haer eyeren versmooren, datse

nemmermeer wedercomen en sullen.

74. To make a salve, which kills the wall lice [bedbugs] which are in a bed.

Take mercury, and do this in a dish with a little black soap, and with the finger mix it until the mercury is completely incorporated into mentioned soap, after that add as many other soaps as you like, then wipe the bed with this soap, and you do this to be sure all the wall lice will die, and smother her eggs, so they will never come weder again.

77. Om die luysen ende die neten te doden.

Neemt swarte seepe, een vnce ende een halue, aloen gestooten, een half dragme,

leuende solfer ooc ghestooten, eenen scrupulus, mengelt alle dese dingen t' samen,

brengtse in een maniere van een salue, met dat welcke smeert die plaetse daer die

luysen zijn, ende si sullen al met die neten steruen, het is wel geproeft.

77. To kill the lice and the nits.

Take black soap, one ounce and a half, broken [rock] alum, a half dragme, living sulfur [naturally found sulfur] also broken, carefully mix all these things together, and bring it into the manner of a salve, with which is wiped the place where the lice are, and you’ll kill all the nits, it is well proved.

132. Om seepe rosaet te maken om in bussen te doene.

Neempt seepe menichmael in rooswater gheweect, daerna neemt knoppen van roosen van Prouencen wel cleyne gesneden. Ende alle dage set die voors. gesneden roosen met die seepe in de sonneschijn, ende dat sult ghi vier dagen doen.

Daerna, als ghi die in bussen doen wilt oft in cleyn vaetkens, neemt een vnce ende een half poeder van groffelsnagelen, ende dat vierendeel yrias van Florencen, wel gestooten ende gewreuen met een weynich beniuyn. Dan sult ghi dit al met die seepe mengelen; weet dat tot elck pont seepen ghi moet2. hebben een pont ende een half roosen, ende als ghijse met die selue seepe doet, so willense versch ghesneden zijn, ende bywijlen daer rooswater in doen, ende dat mengelende, ende gheduerichlijck roerende.

132. To make soap roseat for containers.

Take soap soaked in rosewater many times, then take rose buds of the Provence [in France] cut very small. And every day put the mentioned cut up roses with the soap in the sun, and you should do that for four days.

Then, if you want to put it in containers or in clean small vats, take one ounce and a half powder of gillyflowers, and a fourth part of iris of Florence [orris root], well bruised and rubbed with a little benzoin. Then you should mix all this with the soap; know that to each pound of soap you have a pound and a half of roses, and the manner it is done with this soap, they have to be freshly cut, and add rosewater occasionally, and mix and stir steadily.

133. Om seepe girofflat te maken.

Neemt een pont seepen, set die te weeken in rooswater drie dagen in de sonne; ende als ghi v seepe maken wilt, neemt een vnce ende een half groffelsnagelen wel gestooten, ende die helft van die selue nagelen sult ghi in v seepe doen, ende dat seer wel mengelende. Met dander helft doet dat hierna volcht.

Neemt een cleyn potken met rooswater, ende doeghet ouer 't vier sieden, ende alst beginnen sal te sieden, doeter die reste van dat groffelsnagelpoeder inne, ende neemt den pot van dat vier, ende decten seer wel tot dat die bobbelen ghecesseert zijn, ende dattet water law geworden si, dan roeret met een houtken, ende also roerende, mengelet met v seepe. 
Ende is 't dat ghijer een luttel beniuyn toe doen wilt, ghi moeget doen, ooc sult ghi v seepe in een busse doen, ende si sal goede ruecke aennemen.

133. To make gillyflower soap.

Take a pound of soap, put it to soak in rosewater three days in the sun, and if you want to make soap, take an ounce and a half gillyflowers well crushed, and half of these same nagelen [nails] should you put into the soap, and mix very well. With the other half you do as follows.

Take a clean pot with rosewater, and cook it over the fire, and when it starts to boil, add the rest of the gillyflower powder, and take the pot off the fire, and cover it well until the bubbles seized, and that the water is luke warm, then stir with wood, and also stir, mixing with the soap.

And if you would like add a little benzoin, which you should do, also you should put the soap in a container, and it shall take on a good scent.

139. Seepe voor barbiers met weynich costs.

Neemt bloeme van spaensche seepe, oft seepe damasquin, also veel als ghijs behoeft ende als ghi wilt, ende snijdet in cleyn stucxkens, ende legtse in rooswater te weeken. Dan neemt yrias van Florencen ghepoedert, ende nagelen wel ghestooten, ende incorporeret al wel te samen, ende maecter ballekens af, van alsulcke grootte als ghi wilt, dan hebt ghi goede seepe om dat hooft ende den baert mede te wasschen.

139. Soap for barbers for little cost.

Take powder of Spanish soap, or damask soap, so much as you like and want, and cut it in small pieces, and let it soak in rosewater. Then take iris of Florence [orris sroot] powdered, and nagelen well crushed, and incorporate well, and make thereof small balls, of the size you like, then you have good soap to wash the head and the beard.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Recipes taken from Dat batement van recepten. Een secreetboek uit de zestiende eeuw. Anderwerf gecorrigeerd ende verbetert. Gheprint T Antwerpen op die Lombaerde veste teghen over den ijshont bij mij Hans de Laet van Stabroeck 1546.

That House of Recipes. A Book of Secrets of the 16th century. Otherwise corrected and improved. Printed in Antwerp at the Lombardse Veste opposite the icedog by me Hans de Laet van Stabroeck, 1546. (ed. Willy L. Braekman). Omirel UFSAL, Brussel 1990. This book is available at the Provincial Library in Leeuwarden, the Netherlands and was donated from the Bibliotheca Frisiae of J.H Halbersma (part of T bouck va wondre).

Zie voor verantwoording: http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/_bat002wlbr01_01/colofon.htm

T bouck van wondre, 1513 by H.G.Th. Frencken, Drukkerij H. Timmermans, Roermond 1934.

Zie voor verantwoording: http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/fren007tbou01_01/colofon.htm

Contemporary images of Renaissance Washerwomen in action

From the archives of the British Museum come the following images (found using the keywords 'washerwoman', 'washerwomen' and 'laundress'). Most date from the late 16th to mid 17th century. Enjoy!

 Five women washing clothes, formerly in an album originally containing
62 drawings; one sitting by a basket to right. Genoese, 1542-1585. 

Pen and brown ink, grey-brown wash, over black chalk by Luca Cambiaso.

 A bleaching field, from an album of 102 drawings; 

five women collecting or laying down clothing or sheets, a man with a basket of cloth
on a wheelbarrow and a dog by a kennel at right, a gabled house beyond. Dutch, 1620-1626.
Watercolor and bodycolor, over black chalk, heightened with silver & gold by Adriaen van de Venne.

Two women washing clothes in a well at left, a third woman kneeling and rinsing clothes in a pond in left foreground, a donkey at right, a tunnel cut in stone beyond; after Francisque Millet. 

French, Flemish, 1657-1700. Etching by Francois de Ligny.

 

 A laundress; whole-length figure, turned slightly to right, balancing the laundry basket on her head; from a series of fourteen plates. Dutch; 1635, Etching and engraving by Jan van Vliet.

Plate 9: The Laundry. Singerie with several monkeys doing the laundry in an interior, such as washing, drying and stiffing collars; second state with lettering; from a series of eighteen prints showing monkeys. Dutch, c.1562, Etching by Pieter van der Borcht

Laundresses; two women standing either side of a table at centre pressing clothes, another woman, seen from behind at r, is leaning out of a window; French 1698-1762.
 Red chalk on cream paper by Edme Bouchardon.

Figure studies of male and female peasants including a group of washerwomen. 

Etching with some hand colouring. German, 1700-1800. Anonymous.

 A laundress and a shepherd in conversation near a stream; the woman seen from behind,
kneeling at left, the shepherd standing in profile to left at right, leaning against a fence in
 front of which a goat is standing and over which a cow is peering. Dutch, 1610-1647.

Etching and engraving by Moyses van Wtenbrouck.

Animals standing in a stream with a washerwoman drying clothes on a rock; 

a youth stands on the rock watching; after Nicolaes Berchem. Dutch, 1660 (circa). 

Engraving and etching by Johannes Visscher.

Washerwoman and herd on the bank of a river; a shepherd sits and examines his foot
and a dog laps at the water; beyond on a path a woman carries a basket on her head;
third state with publisher's address; after Pieter van Laer. Dutch, 1650-1660.
Engraving and etching by Cornelis Visscher.