<div dir="ltr">Dear all,<div><br></div><div>this is a first where I might be able to contribute to this group, but I'm happy to do so:</div><div><br></div><div>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.</div>
<div>Here you can find pictures of a few of them (click on the pictures to get a zoomable high resolution image):</div><div><a href="goog_468693376">http://balat.kikirpa.be/photo.php?path=X026849&objnr=20042741<br></a></div>
<div><a href="goog_468693376">http://balat.kikirpa.be/photo.php?path=X035781&objnr=20052916 (green staining on the surface, carbon black in the circular motives)<br></a></div><div><a href="goog_468693376">http://balat.kikirpa.be/photo.php?path=X026845&objnr=20052917<br>
</a></div><div><a href="goog_468693376">http://balat.kikirpa.be/photo.php?path=X038388&objnr=20052919<br></a></div><div><a href="http://balat.kikirpa.be/photo.php?path=X035783&objnr=20052922">http://balat.kikirpa.be/photo.php?path=X035783&objnr=20052922</a><br>
</div><div><br></div><div>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.</div><div><br></div><div>So staining and colouring isn't that uncommon, as you probably already know.</div>
<div><br></div><div>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, Pb<font size="1">3</font>O<font size="1">4</font>). 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). </div>
<div><br></div><div><br></div><div>Some simple identification techniques for minium are: </div><div><ul><li>Ultraviolet fluorescence (if minium, it minium it should show a dark red colouration);<br></li><li>Infrared False Color which should gives the observed minium a yellow-brown colour.</li>
</ul>Analytical techniques:<br>In case you have the oppurtunity to analyse it with RAMAN, you can find a reference spectrum <a href="http://www.chem.ucl.ac.uk/resources/raman/pigfiles/redlead.html">here</a>.<br>For a reference spectrum of minium using XRF: <a href="http://cameo.mfa.org/images/8/82/Slide16_FC199.PNG">here</a>.<br>
</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>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. </div>
<div>This is an important question since it could provide an answer to whether or not this colouration is original.</div><div>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. </div>
<div><br></div><div>To get back on the minium pigment, more information can be found in:</div><div><div><ul><li>Eastaugh, N., Walsh, V., Chaplin, T., & Siddall, R. (2008). Pigment Compendium - A Dictionary and Optical Microscopy of Historical Pigments. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.<br>
</li><li>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.</li>
</ul></div></div><div><br></div><div>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. </div>
<div>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. </div><div><br></div><div>Yours,</div><div><br></div><div>Vincent Cattersel</div>
<div><br></div><div><span style="font-family:Tahoma;font-size:13.63636302947998px;color:rgb(128,0,0);font-weight:bold">Drs. VINCENT CATTERSEL</span></div><div><font color="#800000"><b>Doctoral researcher<br style="font-family:Tahoma;font-size:13.63636302947998px">
</b></font><span style="font-family:Tahoma;font-size:13.63636302947998px;font-weight:bold;color:rgb(0,51,102)">Universiteit Antwerpen / University of Antwerp</span><br style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Tahoma;font-size:13.63636302947998px">
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</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On 15 April 2014 09:06, David Constantine <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:dkconstantine@btinternet.com" target="_blank">dkconstantine@btinternet.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><u></u>
<div style="PADDING-LEFT:10px;PADDING-RIGHT:10px;PADDING-TOP:15px" name="Compose message area">
<div><font face="Calibri">Hello All, </font></div>
<div><font face="Calibri"></font> </div>
<div><font face="Calibri">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?</font></div>
<div><font face="Calibri"></font> </div>
<div><font face="Calibri">Regards,</font></div>
<div><font face="Calibri"><br>David Constantine</font></div></div>
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