[Bonetools] Colouring bone

Thu Apr 17 15:28:57 CEST 2014

Dear David,

you are right about the rivets for this object:
http://balat.kikirpa.be/photo.php?path=X035781&objnr=20052916
They are indeed made of iron (iron based alloy).
I was talking about this object, which was also green coloured:
http://balat.kikirpa.be/photo.php?path=X026845&objnr=20052917

Actually I only used the verdigris as a pure pigment or as an ingredient to
produce copper resinate. So unfortunately I never tried staining any bone
material with it.

*I find this colour conversation is very interesting. Are there any
upcoming congresses on pre-medieval staining and colouring (technology and
practices)? If not, one might think about organising one?*

Regards,
Vincent Cattersel

On 17 April 2014 14:56, Paul Stokes <escoffier1951 at yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

>
> Dear David,
>
> I am new to this group but not new to experimental archaeology, I’ve been
> messing around with very many different materials for some thirty odd
> years. Last year I over dyed a Manx Loaghtan fleece, (light brown), with a
> dye bath of Weld (*Reseda luteola*), copper sulphate and ammonia, the end
> result was a nice bright green. The pan that I was using was aluminium it
> also turned a blue green the next thing I used the pan for was to boil up
> four sheep’s legs in the wool.  Only wanting the Tibia and the
> metapodials for my current project, I left the phalanges in the pan and
> forgot them for about a month in that time they picked up a green stain
> from the pan. Unfortunately not wanting them for anything I threw them away
> as I can get plenty more from the local knackers yard. I would suggest it
> was more likely to have been the copper that stained them, as the pan still
> as a blue in colour.
> Regards,
> Paul Stokes
>
>    On Wednesday, 16 April 2014, 22:07, David Constantine <
> dkconstantine at btinternet.com> wrote:
>  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 <vincent.cattersel at gmail.com>
> *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.<bonetools at listserv.niif.hu>
> *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<http://www.chem.ucl.ac.uk/resources/raman/pigfiles/redlead.html>
> .
> For a reference spectrum of minium using XRF: here<http://cameo.mfa.org/images/8/82/Slide16_FC199.PNG>
> .
>
>
> 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<https://mail.uantwerpen.be/owa/redir.aspx?C=Gp6oB9zg6EOuD7R75-KaedCX7IvSydAI3RAu53oKfBVI3Qv2NuFbAdGDGuoXVIRgfT68F3LfWbc.&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.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
>
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