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Historically, the term "latten" referred loosely to the copper
alloy An alloy is a mixture of chemical elements of which at least one is a metal. Unlike chemical compounds with metallic bases, an alloy will retain all the properties of a metal in the resulting material, such as electrical conductivity, ductility, ...
s such as
brass Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other wit ...
or
bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...
that appeared in the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
and through to the late-18th and early-19th centuries. Such alloys were used for
monumental brass A monumental brass is a type of engraved sepulchral memorial, which in the 13th century began to partially take the place of three-dimensional monuments and effigies carved in stone or wood. Made of hard latten or sheet brass, let into the paveme ...
es, in decorative effects on borders, rivets or other details of metalwork (particularly
armour Armour (British English) or armor (American English; see spelling differences) is a covering used to protect an object, individual, or vehicle from physical injury or damage, especially direct contact weapons or projectiles during combat, or fr ...
), in
livery A livery is an identifying design, such as a uniform, ornament, symbol or insignia that designates ownership or affiliation, often found on an individual or vehicle. Livery will often have elements of the heraldry relating to the individual or ...
and
pilgrim badge Pilgrim badges are decorations worn by some of those who undertake a Christian pilgrimage to a place considered holy by the Church. They became very popular among Catholics in the later medieval period. Typically made of lead alloy, they were sold ...
s or funerary effigies. Latten commonly contained varying amounts of copper, tin, zinc and lead, giving it characteristics of both brass and bronze. Metalworkers commonly formed latten in thin sheets and used it to make church utensils. Brass of this period is made through the
calamine brass Calamine brass is brass produced by a particular alloying technique using the zinc ore calamine directly, rather than first refining it to metallic zinc. Direct zinc smelting appears to have been unknown in Europe until the mid-18th century, even ...
process, from copper and zinc ore. (Later brass was made with zinc metal from
Champion A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and world championships, ...
's smelting process and is not generally referred to as "latten".) This calamine brass was generally manufactured as hammered sheet or " battery brass" (hammered by a "battery" of water-powered
trip hammer A trip hammer, also known as a tilt hammer or helve hammer, is a massive powered hammer. Traditional uses of trip hammers include pounding, decorticating and polishing of grain in agriculture. In mining, trip hammers were used for crushing metal ...
s), and cast brass was rare. "Latten" also refers to a type of tin plating on iron (or possibly some other base metal), which is known as ''white latten''; and ''black latten'' refers to ''laten-brass'', which is brass milled into thin plates or sheets. The term "latten" has also been used, rarely, to refer to lead alloys. In general, metal in thin sheets is characterised as "latten" - such as ''gold latten''; and ''lattens'' (plural) refers to metal sheets between 1/64" and 1/32" in thickness.


Footnotes


References

* ''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary'' (1998, 2nd edition) * ''The Oxford English Dictionary'' (1989, 2nd edition) * ''Webster's Third New International Dictionary'' (1986) {{alloy-stub Copper alloys Brass