eBay Tips: Photography

Antique Victorian Wax Desk Seal with
Sterling Silver Crest and Agate Handle

(Sold for $177.00 in 2005, BidBrothers)

This was another antique objet d'art I enjoyed photographing. Ornate and rich with details. Beautiful colors...

The History of Sealing Wax

Sealing wax actually originated when envelopes did not come with glue on the flap that made it difficult to seal and thus ensure privacy. To solve this problem, a lit candle was tipped over the envelope, allowing a few drops of wax to fall on the flap’s side and that was stamped with an inscribed stem, which was called a seal.

In days of yore this was a method used to ensure that the communication sent was secure and authentic. Unfortunately it was the coming of the gummed envelopes that led to a decline in the use of sealing wax, though the ones who are fascinated with it still find an excuse to melt the wax!

The recipes of sealing wax can be generally divided into those before and after the beginning of trade with the Indies. Beeswax that had been melted together with Venice turpentine was typically used in the Middle Ages to make sealing wax. The wax that was manufactured at this time was uncolored. It was after some time that vermilion was used to add some color. It was in the 16th century that sealing wax was compounded from a mixture of various proportions of shellac, resin, turpentine, chalk, plaster, turpentine and coloring matter and no actual wax.

(Source: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/wax-seals-what-is-sealing-wax.html)