Wax spatula

A wax spatula is a tool used to apply wax to a wax tablet .

Wax spatulas are depicted several times on ancient depictions in connection with other writing implements such as wax tablets and stiluses . Therefore, archaeological finds from wax spatulas can be clearly identified.

These tools have a spatula-shaped end with a width of 3 to 10 cm and are therefore much more suitable for smoothing the freshly applied, warm wax mixture or for correcting larger areas than the much narrower, spatula-shaped end of a stylus. The handle can be simple. Some Roman pieces have a handle in the form of a bust of the goddess Minerva , which, as the protective goddess of teachers and poets, establishes a further connection between the wax spatula and the field of writing.

literature

• Wolfgang Gaitzsch : The wax application of antique writing boards. In: Bonner Jahrbücher. Vol. 184, 1984, ISSN  0938-9334 , pp. 189-210.
• Sabine Faust: Minervabusts of wax spatulas. In: Trier magazine . Vol. 61, 1998, pp. 101-106.