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Conservation of A Tsuba - Current Projects
Conservation of A Tsuba - Current Projects
Projects
Conservation of a Tsuba
Posted by Abigail Bainbridge on November 11, 2013 ∙ 4 Comments
By Sophie Harris
The first project for second‑year metals conservation students is on ferrous metals. I received this Japanese tsuba encased in ferrous
corrosion that has badly damaged the fine detail and had also consumed the gilding of this piece.
corrosion that has badly damaged the fine detail and had also consumed the gilding of this piece.
The dating of this object is difficult as designs and styles varied from maker to maker. The entire of the object is chased and engraved iron
with damascening and amalgam gilded decorative highlights, with inclusions of gold, silver and copper alloy highlights.
Under the microscope you can see the potential for detail beneath the corrosion. A simple meticulous mechanical clean with a solvent and
a scalpel blade underneath the microscope revealed the original detail of the piece.
During the cleaning process I noticed that there was a corrosion‑coloured waxy layer in the low points of the detail.
Removal of this was difficult because solvents just moved the residue about, which made more unnecessary work and started to damage
Removal of this was difficult because solvents just moved the residue about, which made more unnecessary work and started to damage
the gilding in the background, which had been completely encased in corrosion.
The removal of this was not necessary anyway; instead I felt as though the best thing to do was to stabilise what is there, as this keeps the
integrity of the piece.
The iron was then stabilised with a chemical corrosion inhibitor of tannic acid 10% solution and 0.01% phosphoric acid. A minor
pigmented protective coating of microcrystalline wax was then applied to prevent further corrosion.
pigmented protective coating of microcrystalline wax was then applied to prevent further corrosion.
To sit and reveal the beauty of this piece was a lovely start back to the term and ferrous metal objects. So I thought I would share it with
all of you.
Filed under Metalwork, Postgraduate ∙ Tagged with cleaning, corrosion, gilding, iron, tsuba
Comments
4 Responses to “Conservation of a Tsuba”
tonybuck12 says:
November 11, 2013 at 9:23 am
Fascinating insight and thanks for sharing.
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tonybuck12 says:
November 11, 2013 at 10:26 am
Reblogged this on Tonyʹs blog.
Reply
Maria Magalhães says:
November 11, 2013 at 10:36 pm
Excellent exposure. thanks for sharing.
Reply
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Current Projects ∙ Recent work from students in the book, ceramics, metals, furniture, and clocks conservation departments at West Dean
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