| About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
MS&T24: Materials Science & Technology
|
| Symposium
|
Scientific Methods in Art, Archeology, and Art Conservation Science
|
| Presentation Title |
The Egyptian Blues, Part 1: Phase, Chemistry, and Micro/Nanostructure |
| Author(s) |
Travis Olds, Ed Vicenzi, Julia Esakoff, John Bussey, M. C. Dixon Wilkins, Lisa Haney, Mostafa Sherif, Thomas Lam, Sam Karcher, John McCloy |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Travis Olds |
| Abstract Scope |
Egyptian blue (EB) is humankind’s oldest inorganic pigment. In this presentation, we introduce our project to assess the synthetic conditions, chemistry, and structure of EB. We have investigated 12 combinations of precursor and synthesis conditions and compared these with two ancient artifacts and 7 other synthetic standards. We utilized electron probe microanalysis, X-ray nano-computed tomography, Raman and photoluminescence imaging, and powder X-ray diffraction to compare and contrast the synthetic and ancient pigments. We evaluated both the crystalline phases – cuprorivaite, silica (quartz, tridymite, cristobalite), wollastonite, and tenorite – and the residual glass phases. Microscopy and tomography give complementary information on the multiphase nature of pigment particles in both ancient and modern recreations. Near-infrared photoluminescence is currently used to identify EB in ancient artifacts, and we show the excitation wavelength dependence of this effect and its use for assessing the heterogeneity of the pigments. |