About Magazine Podcasts Events
Museum Hours:Wednesday–Saturday, 10am–5pm

Distillations magazine
Unexpected Stories from Science’s Past
Arts & Culture Early Science & Alchemy Environment & Nature Health & Medicine Inventions & Discoveries People & Politics
July 23, 2015 Early Science & Alchemy

Making and Knowing (Fake) Coral

Watch historians re-create a recipe for imitation coral, a popular material in early modern jewelry and home décor.

gloved hand mixing ingredients for an experiment
About SUPPORT OUR WORK

In a cramped lab, historians from Columbia University and the Chemical Heritage Foundation (now the Science History Institute) are reconstructing a 16th-century workshop by re-creating recipes from an anonymous craftsperson’s manuscript. One of the recipes being pursued is for imitation coral, a popular material in early modern jewelry and home décor.

More from our magazine

Color illustration of an oversized car battery surrounded by a crowd of people. The outer ring of the crowd is shaded in blue, while the inner ring is shaded in yellow. The title of the advertisement reads: “Lucas Batteries: Top secret out!”
DISTILLATIONS MAGAZINE

Politically Charged

How a shady car battery additive called AD‑X2 sparked a showdown between the U.S. political and scientific establishments.

Illustration of three men whipping, pushing, and pulling a mule with a rope on a road,
DISTILLATIONS MAGAZINE

Mule Power

Unpacking empires and diaspora in Mexico and the United States.

Ilustración de tres hombres azotando, empujando y tirando de una mula con una cuerda en un camino.
DISTILLATIONS MAGAZINE

Mulas de fuerza

Desempacando imperios y diáspora en México y Estados Unidos.

    Republish

    Copy the above HTML to republish this content. We have formatted the material to follow our guidelines, which include our credit requirements. Please review our full list of guidelines for more information. By republishing this content, you agree to our republication requirements.