[Bonetools] Colouring bone
SA O'Connor
S.Oconnor at bradford.ac.uk
Thu Apr 17 13:36:29 CEST 2014
Dear David,
Back in the 1980s, when I was at the York Archaeological Trust we were
involved in providing green stained objects for an undergraduate
dissertation by a University of Bradford, Archaeological Sciences,
student (surname of Edwards, I think) to look at exactly this
question. Some objects seemed to be accidentally stained (often very
patchy) whilst others were intensely and evenly stained and were
considered to be deliberately coloured. All were analysed by XRF and
copper/bronze proved to be the basis of all the staining solutions used.
In my more recent work I have documented historical pieces, such
selected elements of bone and antler in box and gun inlays and bone
and ivory cutlery handles(and working waste from cutlers) that are
undeniably deliberately stained.
I attach a low resolution image an archaeological example, a buckle at
the Yorkshire Museum that I am convinced is deliberately stained in
this way.
All the best,
Sonia
Quoting David Constantine <dkconstantine at btinternet.com>:
> I am aware that copper (or alloys) is often cited as a green dye for
> (such as in MacGregor 1985), but I believe there is also recipes
> from the Mappae Clavicula that use weld, urine and "lulax" to dye
> bone green, so I was curious to see if any chemical analysis has
> been performed to determine how the green has been achieved.
>
> Looking at the zoomed images, I believe the rivets are iron.
>
> Regards,
>
> David Constantine
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Kordula Gostencnik <kgosten at gmail.com>
> To: "Mailing list for archaeologists of the research group for the
> study of object and waste of bone, antler. ivory and horn."
> <bonetools at listserv.niif.hu>
> Sent: Wednesday, 16 April 2014, 20:21
> Subject: Re: [Bonetools] Colouring bone
>
>
>
> Green stains are normally caused by bronze objects or copper alloy
> scrap associated with worked bones in the soil. Are the rivets all
> made from iron or also from bronze?
>
> Kordula
>
>
>
> 2014-04-16 17:15 GMT+02:00 Dave Constantine <dkconstantine at btinternet.com>:
>
> Thank you all for your replies.
>>
>> Vincent, the green stained comb you linked is rather interesting. Do you
> know what the green pigment is? Also, looking at the images, it
> seems that it is
> no more than a surface colourant with little penetration, is this correct?
>>
>> Thank you for your suggestion of minium, I was at a loss about what it
> could be. It is not a fresh find, it was originally discovered in
> the 1960s (or
> possibly 1970s) and mounted on a card for display. To the best of my
> knowledge
> though, the colouring is original, though it is possible that the surface was
> also coloured and this has simply failed to survive.
>>
>> I have Arthur MacGregor’s book, and very useful it is too on the matter of
> colouring.
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> David Constantine
>>
>>
>>
>> From: Vincent Cattersel
>> Sent: Wednesday, April 16, 2014 2:03 PM
>> To: Mailing list for archaeologists of the
> research group for the study of object and waste of bone, antler. ivory and
> horn.
>> Subject: Re: [Bonetools] Colouring bone
>> Dear all,
>>
>> this is a first where I might be able to contribute to this group, but I'm
> happy to do so:
>>
>> In 2008 I have conserved and restored 8 bone/antler combs from the
> Merovingian period at the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage (Brussels,
> Belgium). These combs are currently preserved at the Royal Museums of Art and
> History in Brussels, Belgium.
>> Here you can find pictures of a few of them (click on the pictures to get a
> zoomable high resolution image):
>> http://balat.kikirpa.be/photo.php?path=X026849&objnr=20042741
>>
>> http://balat.kikirpa.be/photo.php?path=X035781&objnr=20052916
> (green staining on the surface, carbon black in the circular
> motives)
>>
>> http://balat.kikirpa.be/photo.php?path=X026845&objnr=20052917
>>
>> http://balat.kikirpa.be/photo.php?path=X038388&objnr=20052919
>>
>> http://balat.kikirpa.be/photo.php?path=X035783&objnr=20052922
>>
>>
>> Some of these where coloured and stained with green and carbon black. We
> used µ-XRF, µ-RAMAN and SEM(-EDX) to analyse the stains and the carbon black
> particles.
>>
>> So staining and colouring isn't that uncommon, as you probably already
> know.
>>
>> When I look at the picture, I can see that the red is slightly orange,
> which makes me think about the pigment lead red (also called 'minium' or lead
> tetra-oxide, Pb3O4). This isn't a
> surprise since it is one of the oldest known vivid red pigments
> (except for some
> iron oxide pigments derived from hematite and red earth or cinnabar (HgS),
> however they all are true 'reddish' in colour and lack the hint of orange).
>>
>>
>> Some simple identification techniques for minium are:
>> * Ultraviolet fluorescence (if minium, it minium it should show a
>> dark red colouration);
>>
>> * Infrared False Color which should gives the observed minium a
>> yellow-brown colour. Analytical techniques:
>> In case you have the oppurtunity to
> analyse it with RAMAN, you can find a reference spectrum here.
>> For
> a reference spectrum of minium using XRF: here.
>>
>>
>>
>> Another thing is the question whether this die was excavated and brought
> directly to your collection or was it once part of a (private)collection and
> excavated a long time ago.
>> This is an important question since it could provide an answer to whether
> or not this colouration is original.
>> I know from my experiences with the conservation of precious ivory objects
> that they are often repainted (repolychromed) throughout time, even
> though their
> iconography or typology gives us reasons to believe that they
> originally weren't
> polychromed or not polychromed in such manner as they are today.
>>
>> To get back on the minium pigment, more information can be found in:
>> * Eastaugh, N., Walsh, V., Chaplin, T., & Siddall, R. (2008).
>> Pigment Compendium - A Dictionary and Optical Microscopy of
>> Historical Pigments. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.
>>
>> * Feller, R. L., Gettens, R. J., & Chase, W. T. (1993). Vermilion
>> and Cinnabar. In R. Ashok, Artists' Pigments - A Handbook of Their
>> History and Characteristics. (Vol. II, pp. 159-182).
>> Washington-London: National Gallery of Art.
>>
>> Another book I can recommend on staining and colouring bone materials is:
> McGregor. A. (1985) Bone, Antler, Ivory & Horn: The Technology of Skeletal
> Materials Since the Roman Period.
>> I don't have it here with me for the moment, but as you wish, I can always
> go through it to find more information on red staining or colouring.
>>
>> Yours,
>>
>> Vincent Cattersel
>>
>> Drs.
> VINCENT CATTERSEL
>> Doctoral researcher
>> Universiteit
> Antwerpen / University of Antwerp
>> Faculteit
> Ontwerpwetenschappen / Faculty of Design Sciences
>> Opleiding
> conservatie-restauratie / Conservation Studies
>> Blindestraat
> 9
>> B-2000
> Antwerpen
>> T +32 3 213 71
> 34 | F +32 3 213 71 35
>> vincent.cattersel at uantwerpen.be
>> www.uantwerpen.be
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On 15 April 2014 09:06, David Constantine
>> <dkconstantine at btinternet.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>>> Hello All,
>>>
>>> Attached is an image of a (probably) Saxon bone/antler die. As
>>> can be seen, there is reddish pigmentation in the decoration. I
>>> have looked around for similar colouring and with the exception
>>> of a "lucet" from London I cannot seem to find anything similar,
>>> just totally stained objects e.g. the belt buckle from York. Does
>>> anyone here know of any Early Medieval dated bone artefacts that
>>> are either entirely stained/dyed or have coloured decoration such
>>> as this?
>>>
>>> Regards,
>>>
>>> David
> Constantine
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Bonetools
> mailing list
>>> Bonetools at listserv.niif.hu
>>> https://listserv.niif.hu/mailman/listinfo/bonetools
>>>
>>>
>>
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>
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