Egyptian Faience Inlay Techniques: a process for obtaining detail and clarity by refiring
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Egyptian Faience Inlay Techniques: a process for obtaining detail and clarity by refiring Carolyn Riccardelli, * Jennifer Mass,** Jonathan Thornton*** * Sherman Fairchild Center for Objects Conservation, Metropolitan Museum of Art 1000 5th Avenue, New York, NY 10028 ** Conservation Division, Analytical Lab, Winterthur Museum Route 52, Winterthur, DE 19735 *** Art Conservation Department, State University College at Buffalo RH 230, 1300 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14222-1905 ABSTRACT The faience of the New Kingdom period is frequently decorated with an expanded palette of red, black, and yellow. This polychrome decoration was often accomplished by inlaying one color of paste into another. The aesthetic success of these inlay techniques reveals a fundamental understanding of the materials’ characteristics before, during, and after firing, and knowledge of how to manipulate these characteristics. The goal of this research is to more fully understand ancient Egyptian faience inlay techniques by characterizing the properties of a set of standard reproductions. As the most aesthetically successful reproductions were obtained using pre-fired components, a series of experiments was performed to quantify changes in glaze color, glaze gloss, and depth of glaze penetration upon refiring. Data was gathered from replicated samples and cross-sections using SEM, UV-VIS spectrophotometry, colorimetry, and optical microscopy. Visual comparisons were made between cross-sections of replicated inlays and examples of broken ancient Egyptian faience inlays. INTRODUCTION Egyptian faience manufacture began in the Predynastic period (ca. 4800-4300 BC) and continued for the next five millennia, not only in Egypt but also throughout North Africa, Central Asia, and the Aegean. The earliest examples of faience have a limited palette of turquoise-blue and green, and may have been developed to simulate highly prized naturally occurring blue stones like turquoise and lapis lazuli [1]. The ancient Egyptians first made beads out of faience, and soon the range grew to include small votive temple offerings and royal tomb objects. The material was also inlaid into furniture and into walls as tomb decoration. The most recognizable forms of faience are small figures of gods, animals, and humans, as well as jewelry, and many types of vessels [2]. Throughout their long history in Egypt, faience objects became more complex and were decorated with an expanded palette of red, black, and yellow. This polychrome decoration was generally accomplished by inlaying one color of paste into another. Inlay during the New Kingdom period is often characterized by a small void, or parting line, around the added color. However, inlaid faience from this period is found both with and without such a parting line. Because the distinctive parting line is difficult to reproduce, the line appears to be deliberate [3].
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Technical Description of Faience Egyptian faience is a glazed ceramic material with a crushed quartz core. In addition to silica which generally makes
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