Kate, you're probably right. I was only 14 at the time and we switched to
acrylics the next year. I just remember calling it "casein".The first paint
was a powder which we mixed with hot water, and added pigment. 
The second, when I was in college, "hoof and horn", was a coarser powder,
more sand like in consistency. We mixed this with water also, but it needed
to be heated. Then pigment was added. I always thought they were 2 versions
of the same stuff.
 Either way, they can be used on fabric without "bleed" from the oil in oil
paint.

-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of Kate M Bunting
Sent: Wednesday, April 02, 2008 1:09 AM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: [h-cost] h-costume Digest, Vol 7, Issue 119

Sharon Collier wrote:

>......................................................... Before 
>acrylics, we used to make our own paint, using hoof-and-horn glue. We
called it casein paint.
>You mixed the ground up stuff (hooves and horns, apparently) up with 
>water, heated it and mixed in dry pigment. Perhaps this is what they 
>used in olden times for fabric.
>You can still get that kind of glue-it's called "mucilage" or possibly 
>"hide" glue, the brown stuff that used to come in a glass bottle with 
>an angled rubber top. .....
>Another name for this might be "milk paint". This is sometimes found on 
>old furniture. Apparently it's a pain to remove from furniture if 
>you're refinishing. I've never come across it myself, but I think it's 
>a version of this type of casein-based paint.

Are you sure you're not talking about two different things, Sharon? My
understanding is that casein is a substance found in milk and cheese, but
the substance extracted from hooves and horns is gelatin.

Kate Bunting
Cataloguing & Data Quality Librarian
University of Derby

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