Mark T. Wypyski

Malkata and Lisht Glassmaking Technologies: Towards a Specific Link between Second Millennium BC

Elemental analyses have been conducted on 61 coloured opaque glasses from the Malkata and Lisht New Kingdom glass factories. The presence of tin in several of the blue glasses suggests that a bronze casting byproduct or corrosion product was the source of the copper colorant for these glasses. A positive correlation between the lead and antimony concentrations of the yellow and green opaque glasses, plus a consistent excess of lead oxide in these glasses, suggests the use of antimony-rich cupellation litharge as the source for the Pb 2 Sb 2 O 7 colorant in these glasses. The metallurgical byproducts used to colour the Malkata and Lisht glasses provide an explicit mechanism for Peltenburgs theory of interaction between second millennium BC glassmakers and contemporary metalworkers/

Analysis of natural dyes and metal threads used in 16 th -18 th century Persian/Safavid and Indian/Mughal velvets by HPLC-PDA and SEM-EDS to investigate the system to differentiate velvets of these two cultures

IntroductionAnalyses of natural dyes and the metal of the metal-wrapping threads used in 16th -18th century Persian/Safavid and Indian/Mughal period velvets were performed on these textiles in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The purpose was to determine whether velvets from the two cultures, which have shown problems in the past with attribution based on historical and iconographical studies, could be more precisely differentiated with the additional evidence from identification of their natural dyes and metals along with information of weaving techniques.Dyes and metal of the metal-wrapped threads from fifteen Persian velvets and six Indian velvets were analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography with photo diode array detector and by scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry respectively.ResultsThere seem to be types of dyes which specifically characterize the velvets of each culture, as well as types of dyes commonly found in velvets of both cultures. Dyes typical of Persian velvets are cochineal and yellow larkspur, while lac and turmeric are characteristic of Indian velvets. The dyes commonly found are a combination of yellow larkspur and indigo dye in green, as well as safflower, indigo dye, soluble redwoods, and tannin dye. There were exceptions however. Because of those exceptions, examining the range of dyes used in the velvets would be important in differentiating the velvets. Metal used for wrapping the threads was in all cases found to be silver of fairly high purity, the majority of which had been gilded. The silver from Persia metal threads showed very slightly higher copper content, while Indian threads showed nearly pure silver. This is the first extensive comparative study of dyes and metal threads of Safavid and Mughal velvets: the first evidence of yellow larkspur being the most used yellow dye in Persia, and of the possible differences in the two cultures’ metal threads.ConclusionIn addition to knowledge gathered from investigation of weave structure and from historical and iconographic studies, analysis of dyes and metal threads will contribute to a clearer differentiation of those two cultural groups of textiles.

Renaissance Enameled Jewelry and 19th century Renaissance Revival: Characterization of Enamel Compositions

Enamels from European Renaissance enameled gold jewelry and other objects dating from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and Renaissance style and other objects from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were quantitatively analyzed using energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry. Differences were observed in the overall compositions, as well as the colorants and opacifiers used, of the Renaissance period and most of the later enamels. Some enamels from as late as the early nineteenth century, however, appeared to be essentially the same as those used during the Renaissance. The differences found in the enamel compositions can provide a set of objective compositional criteria to help distinguish between authentic Renaissance period enameled objects and some later enamels done in the style of the Renaissance.

Sword and Dagger Pommels Associated with the Crusades, Part II: A Technical Study

The article discusses the results of a technical study of a collection of medieval sword and dagger pommels owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, with particular focus given to the probable use of the lost-wax technique to create them and the conclusion that they were most likely created in Europe due to the presence of Champleve enameling. A brief overview of medieval metalwork is presented, and the pommels and their creation are described in detail. The association of the pommels with the crusades is also commented on.

ILLUMINATING A COMPLEX HISTORY: THE MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUES OF THE TOMBS OF URGELL AT THE CLOISTERS

Abstract The four Spanish limestone tombs of Urgell at the Cloisters in New York were once believed to have been commissioned in 1314 by Ermengol X, Count of Urgell, for a memorial chapel at the monastery of Las Avellanas in northern Spain. Historical evidence suggests instead that the tombs were not at the monastery until the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and may be assemblages of fourteenth-century and later tomb sculpture brought to the monastery from other sites. Results of a materials study support a fourteenth-century origin and a common local source for all elements of the tombs, and provide evidence that the four tombs in their current configurations were in place together at the end of the seventeenth century. However, they also strongly suggest a much earlier, though not necessarily original, relationship among some of the various elements, particularly in the large composed tomb identified as that of Ermengol VII.