The Identification of Metal Foils and Powders Used on Japanese Prints and Paintings (original) (raw)

Restaurator, 1990

Abstract

Metal foils have often been used on Japanese prints and paintings. The metal is usually present as either a uniform area of leaf or scattered onto the surface in flakes of various sizes. Little information is available on the composition of these particles. Those of yellow metal have been assumed to be gold and those of white metal have been assumed to be silver. When white metal and black particles appear together, the black areas are assumed to be tarnished silver. The aim of this investigation was to analyse these particles and, as far as possible, identify their alteration products. Seven prints and two fan paintings from the British Museum's collection were analysed (Table 1). The metal particles on the surface of one of these prints are shown in Fig. 1. There are huge numbers of these particles; on one print examined, it was estimated that there were tens of thousands. The removal of a few for research purposes presents a negligible aesthetic change. Nevertheless, the number of particles removed was kept as lowas possible, consistent with obtaining a representative sample.

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