Latten
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The term Latten refers loosely to copper alloys, much like brass, employed in the Middle Ages and through to the late 18th and early 19th Centuries, for items such as decorative effect on borders, rivets or other details of metalwork (particularly armour) and for funerary effigies. It was commonly formed in thin sheets and used to make church utensils.
"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.
In general, metal in thin sheets is said to be latten such as gold latten; and lattens, plural, refers to metal sheets between 1/64" and ≤ 1/32" in thickness.
[edit] References
- Edge & Paddock Arms and Armour of the Medieval Knight (1996) [Saturn Books, publishers, London]
- Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1998, 2nd edition)
- The Oxford English Dictionary (1989, 2nd edition)
- Webster's Third New International Dictionary (1986)