Depletion Gilding

Depletion Gilding
Author: Charles Lewton-Brain
Publisher: Lulu.com
Total Pages: 42
Release: 1990
Genre: Gilding
ISBN: 0978482042

Describes the approaches goldsmiths have used historically in various cultures to remove base metals from gold alloys for refining or "coloring the gold": depletion gilding. There is an extensive listing of recipes from many historical and contemporary sources designed to foster contrast and comparison to deepen understanding of the subject.

Ancient Mesopotamian Materials and Industries

Ancient Mesopotamian Materials and Industries
Author: Peter Roger Stuart Moorey
Publisher: Eisenbrauns
Total Pages: 456
Release: 1999
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781575060422

This is the first systematic attempt to survey in detail the archaeological evidence for the crafts and craftsmanship of the Sumerians, Babylonians, and Assyrians in ancient Mesopotamia, covering the period ca. 8000-300 B.C.E. As creators of some of the earliest farming and urban communities known to us, these people were among the first pioneers of many crafts and skills that remain fundamental to modern ways of life. Many of the raw materials for crafts had to be imported from outside the river valley of the Tigris and Euphrates, providing an unusually sensitive indicator of the commercial and cultural contacts of Mesopotamia. In this book, Dr. Moorey reviews briefly the textual evidence, and then goes on to examine in detail the material evidence for a wide range of crafts using stones, both common and ornamental, animal products--from hippopotamus ivory to ostrich egg-shells--ceramics, glazed materials and glass, metals, and building materials. With a comprehensive bibliography, this will be a key work of reference for archaeologists and those interested in the early history of crafts and technology, as well as for specialist historians of the ancient Near East.

Looking at Jewelry

Looking at Jewelry
Author: Susanne Gänsicke
Publisher: Getty Publications
Total Pages: 134
Release: 2019-06-25
Genre: Antiques & Collectibles
ISBN: 1606065998

What is a cabochon? What are the various types of gilding? What is vermeil? This accessible book—the first of its kind—offers concise explanations of key jewelry terms. The fascination with personal adornment is universal. It is a preoccupation that is primal, instinctive, and uniquely human. Jewelry encompasses a seemingly endless number of ornaments produced across time and in all cultures. The range of materials and techniques used in its construction is extraordinary, even revolutionary, with new substances and methods of fabrication added with every generation. In any given society, master artisans have devoted their time, energy, and talent to the fine art of jewelry making, creating some of the most spectacular objects known to humankind. This volume, geared toward jewelry makers, scholars, scientists, students, and fashionistas alike, begins with a lively introduction that offers a cultural history of jewelry and its production. The main text provides information on the most common, iconic, and culturally significant forms of jewelry and also covers materials, techniques, and manufacturing processes. Containing more than eighty color illustrations, this guide will be invaluable to all those wishing to increase their understanding and enjoyment of the art of jewelry.

Metallography and Microstructure in Ancient and Historic Metals

Metallography and Microstructure in Ancient and Historic Metals
Author: David A. Scott
Publisher: Getty Publications
Total Pages: 185
Release: 1992-01-02
Genre: Antiques & Collectibles
ISBN: 0892361956

David A. Scott provides a detailed introduction to the structure and morphology of ancient and historic metallic materials. Much of the scientific research on this important topic has been inaccessible, scattered throughout the international literature, or unpublished; this volume, although not exhaustive in its coverage, fills an important need by assembling much of this information in a single source. Jointly published by the GCI and the J. Paul Getty Museum, the book deals with many practical matters relating to the mounting, preparation, etching, polishing, and microscopy of metallic samples and includes an account of the way in which phase diagrams can be used to assist in structural interpretation. The text is supplemented by an extensive number of microstructural studies carried out in the laboratory on ancient and historic metals. The student beginning the study of metallic materials and the conservation scientist who wishes to carry out structural studies of metallic objects of art will find this publication quite useful.

Reverse Engineering of Ancient Metals

Reverse Engineering of Ancient Metals
Author: Patricia Silvana Carrizo
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 402
Release: 2022-01-01
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 3030728420

This book examines archaeometallurgy and the preservation of ancient materials for cultural heritage. Through understanding the internal structures of relevant ancient materials, their chemical composition, resistance, hardness, etc., their conservation can be more effectively addressed. Preserving cultural artifacts, such as those from border sites, funerary contexts (burials), railway lines, ceremonial sites and road infrastructure, is necessary to provide perspective to a culture’s trajectory. This book addresses how Reverse Engineering can disseminate knowledge of a culture’s heritage by offering technology that can help restore artifacts so they may be displayed and utilized as educational objects.

Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Westen Cultures

Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Westen Cultures
Author: Helaine Selin
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 1140
Release: 2013-11-11
Genre: History
ISBN: 9401714169

The Encyclopaedia fills a gap in both the history of science and in cultural stud ies. Reference works on other cultures tend either to omit science completely or pay little attention to it, and those on the history of science almost always start with the Greeks, with perhaps a mention of the Islamic world as a trans lator of Greek scientific works. The purpose of the Encyclopaedia is to bring together knowledge of many disparate fields in one place and to legitimize the study of other cultures' science. Our aim is not to claim the superiority of other cultures, but to engage in a mutual exchange of ideas. The Western aca demic divisions of science, technology, and medicine have been united in the Encyclopaedia because in ancient cultures these disciplines were connected. This work contributes to redressing the balance in the number of reference works devoted to the study of Western science, and encourages awareness of cultural diversity. The Encyclopaedia is the first compilation of this sort, and it is testimony both to the earlier Eurocentric view of academia as well as to the widened vision of today. There is nothing that crosses disciplinary and geographic boundaries, dealing with both scientific and philosophical issues, to the extent that this work does. xi PERSONAL NOTE FROM THE EDITOR Many years ago I taught African history at a secondary school in Central Africa.

River of Gold--Precolumbian Treasures from Sitio Conte

River of Gold--Precolumbian Treasures from Sitio Conte
Author: Pamela Hearne
Publisher: UPenn Museum of Archaeology
Total Pages: 154
Release: 1992
Genre: Antiques & Collectibles
ISBN: 9780934718912

In 1940 the Museum sponsored excavations at the necropolis of Sitio Conte on the Pacific coastal plain 100 miles southwest of Panama City. The cemetery had been used by the local elite and their subordinates for over seven hundred years, until its abandonment during the tenth to twelfth centuries A.D. The focus is on Burial 11, whose main occupant was buried with fantastic gold objects. Included are essays on the excavations, the goldworking techniques, and the significance of the decorative motifs, as well as a catalogue of the gold objects. Illustrations include many color photographs along with archival photographs of the original excavations.

Cultural Heritage Conservation and Environmental Impact Assessment by Non-Destructive Testing and Micro-Analysis

Cultural Heritage Conservation and Environmental Impact Assessment by Non-Destructive Testing and Micro-Analysis
Author: Rene van Grieken
Publisher: CRC Press
Total Pages: 337
Release: 2005-09-27
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 0203970780

This book mostly contains contributions by the invited lecturers at the 7th International Conference on Non-Destructive Testing and Micro-Analysis for the Diagnostics and Conservation of the Cultural and Environmental Heritage. The contributors have all been chosen for their individual reputations and the quality of their research, but also because they represent a field deemed highly important. Hence, this book give balanced coverage of the areas that are most relevant in non-destructive testing and micro-analysis in the realm of cultural heritage. The analysis methods provide the clinical composition of cultural artifacts to elucidate their provenance, the rate of alteration as a result of exposure to the environment and the effectiveness of conservation and restoration strategies. The techniques are partially or fully non-destructive, are portable, or allow study of different parts of a heterogeneous work of art.

Metal Plating and Patination

Metal Plating and Patination
Author: Susan La-Niece
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 328
Release: 2013-10-22
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 1483292061

Surface finishing is a major subject in the field of metals. The artistic and technical development of decorative or protective finishes has produced some distinctive classes of metalwork in different parts of the world. Metal Plating and Patination is the most important reference work to be published surveying the surface treatments used from the inception of metallurgy to the present day.