Sign in Subscribe
By Carina Magyar in Shrubs —

VI: Spindle

Burning the bush instead of cutting it changed art.

sextidi, the 26th of Floréal, Year CCXXXI
A spindle in its more dramatic autumn state. Photo by Seema Miah / Unsplash

Good morning. Today is sextidi, the 26th of Floréal, Year CCXXXI. We celebrate le fusain, a shrub that makes red berries and has useful thin twigs.

💡
Spindle isn't the prettiest plant in the woods, and its bright red berries are poisonous enough to cause problems for humans – deadly for children – so medicinal claims about it were caveated even in olden days. It is, however, a useful plant, particularly because its sharp, strong, thin branches are easy to snap or cut off but hard enough to be useful for a long time. The plant is named for its primary use – as a dowel spindle for making yarn from thread – but it also found use for knitting needles, toothpicks, skewers, and smaller arrows.

Charcoal as an artistic medium was for sketching only at the time of the French revolution, but by the end of the ensuing century, French artists had brought it to a prominent and in-vogue place thanks to innovations that make fixing charcoal particles to paper possible.

One of those innovations was figuring out what plant matter created the finest, smoothest, most controlled charcoal dust. While most artistic charcoal in stores today is made of willow branches, the best plant – and the charcoal that commands the highest price – is common spindle.

Previous

V: Carp

 Next

VII: Chive

You might also like...