Some technical notes on Whistler's ‘Peacock Room’

Abstract

The small areas of white metallic pigment seen on the south wall of J. M. Whistler's ‘Peacock Room’ in the Freer Gallery of Art are platinum; this has been used, with a yellow-brown ground, to overpaint a preceding layer of silver which, in one place only, is over a preceding layer of gold. The yellow metallic pigment is confirmed as gold and the blue colour of the south wall and elsewhere is based on Prussian blue. On a separate wood panel a green was tentatively identified as copper resinate, and iron-oxide-based pigments appear to be present. In all areas investigated a white, used as a ground and in admixture, was essentially lead white and calcium carbonate. The significance of these results is discussed briefly.     

Maya blue: its presence in cuban colonial wall paintings

Abstract

A blue pigment frequently found in Cuban colonial decorative wall paintings from about 1750 to 1860 has been identified with the aid of thin-layer chromatography, IR spectrometry, X-ray diffraction, thermal analysis, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray microanalysis as ‘Maya blue’. This is the first reported occurrence of Maya blue from a period after the conquest and in a non-Mayan cultural area.     

Photochemical colour change for traditional watercolour pigments in low oxygen levels

Abstract

An investigation for light exposure on pigments in low-oxygen environments (in the range 0–5% oxygen) was conducted using a purpose-built automated microfadometer for a large sample set including multiple samples of traditional watercolour pigments from nineteenth-century and twentieth-century sources, selected for concerns over their stability in anoxia. The pigments were prepared for usage in watercolour painting: ground and mixed in gum Arabic and applied to historically accurate gelatine glue-sized cotton and linen-based papers. Anoxia benefited many colorants and no colorant fared worse in anoxia than in air, with the exception of Prussian blue and Prussian green (which contains Prussian blue). A Prussian blue sampled from the studio materials of J.M.W. Turner (1775 ? 1851) was microfaded in different environments (normal air (20.9% oxygen) 0, 1, 2, 3.5, or 5% oxygen in nitrogen) and the subsequent dark behaviour was measured. The behaviour of the sample (in normal air, anoxia, and 5% oxygen in nitrogen) proved to be consistent with the 55 separately sourced Prussian blue samples. When exposed to light in 5% oxygen in nitrogen, Prussian blue demonstrated the same light stability as in air (at approximately 21°C and 1 atmosphere). Storage in 5% oxygen is proposed for ‘anoxic’ display of paper-based artworks that might contain Prussian blue, to protect this material while reducing light-induced damage to other components of a watercolour, including organic colorants and the paper support.     

Large-scale assessment of light-induced color change in air and anoxic environments

Abstract

A wide-ranging sample set consisting of dry pigments, dyed textiles, organic and aniline-based dyes, gouaches and watercolors, fluorescent inks, and natural history specimens was exposed to light in air (20.9% oxygen) and near-anoxic environments. After a light dosage of approximately 17.5 Mlux-hours under controlled temperature and humidity conditions, 113 of 125 samples (90% of the sample set) were shown to exhibit less color change in a low-oxygen environment compared with its behavior in air. Thirty-nine percent of this subset displayed color change in anoxia that was between two and four times lower than that observed in air, whereas 47% showed color change in anoxia reduced by a factor of four or more. In contrast, six samples exhibited greater color change in anoxia than in air – these samples included Prussian blue watercolor (three samples), Antwerp blue watercolor, Verdigris dry pigment, and Fluorescent Yellow Winsor & Newton Gouache. Although the results from this small sample subset may cause concern when considering the use of anoxia in the conservation of cultural heritage, particularly for colorant systems whose behavior in anoxia has not yet been identified, this study demonstrates the overwhelming benefits of anoxic light exposure for the vast majority of samples investigated here.     

A Simple Water-Circulator for Museum Use

Abstract

Egyptian blue has been identified positively in a Roman mediaeval fresco of the lower church of San Clemente. The date around the middle of the ninth century A.D. of the mural painting extends by five centuries the previously known period of use of this famous pigment.     

Unusual pigments on a Greek marble basin

Abstract

The examination of the original polychromy of a fourth century B.C. classical Greek marble basin revealed a number of unusual pigments. In addition to natural cinnabar, and Egyptian blue, analysis has shown the presence of wild madder (Rubia peregrina) as the colorant in a purple pigment. This is one of the very few instances in which the use of madder as a colorant in classical painting has been established analytically. The white pigment was found to be neutral lead carbonate (cerussite). The use of this carbonate in painting is extremely rare. The yellow pigment was identified as misy (jarosite). The use of jarosites, iron sulphates, as pigments in painting has not been reported previously.     

Lapis Lazuli in an Enigmatic ‘Purple7rsquo; Pigment from a Thirteenth-Century BC Greek Wall Painting

Abstract

This paper presents the first evidence of lapis lazuli or lazurite that was detected unexpectedly using micro-Raman spectroscopy during research to identify an enigmatic purple hue on the thirteenth-century BC Greek Bronze Age wall paintings from Gla. The lapis lazuli material was found as part of a mixture including a red iron oxide and an as yet unidentified purple staining material. Existing purple mixtures of that period are also discussed. The identification of lapis lazuli at Gla may prove to be the earliest known use of this pigment in buon fresco, in both Eastern and Western painting traditions. Furthermore, this precedes the next known use of the material as a pigment by 1800 years. The existence of this blue pigment is also discussed within the context of the blue pigment palette of the Bronze Age Aegean and eastern Mediterranean Bronze Age (3300–1100 BC), to show its use in relation to other blue materials and to demonstrate the technology and knowledge mastered by the artists who used this lazurite.     

I. Azurite and Blue Verditer

Abstract

Samples of pigments from excavated wall paintings of Vergina’s second tomb were analyzed by the non-destructive methods of X-ray fluorescence, X-ray diffraction and mineralogical microscopic examinations. The results showed that one type of blue pigment was used, the well-known Egyptian blue. The red pigments, except one which is haematite, are cinnabar (HgS), and the grey pigments are carbon. None of the black pigments contained manganese compounds.     

The Restoration of the ‘Vienna Dioscorides’

Abstract

Very small paint samples from Cosimo Tura's ‘The Annunciation with Saint Francis and Saint Louis of Toulouse’ were submitted to amino acid analysis in order to determine the nature of the binding media. The four panels appeared to have been painted with egg tempera, and showed extensive localized deterioration in the blue areas but not in the other coloured areas. Following the Picotag method, the samples were hydrolyzed in an acid vapor, derivatized with iso-thiocyanatobenzene, and analyzed using reversed phase high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). Amino acid analysis demonstrated that the red and brown areas were painted using egg yolk as the binding medium, while the blue areas were painted with animal-skin glue (distemper). Analysis of the green paint indicated a mixture of egg yolk and glue. The use of these techniques makes it possible to identify proteinaceous materials in art objects from samples in the microgram range.     

Copper(II) hydroxide on artefacts: Corrosion,conservation, colourants

Copper(II) hydroxide (as the rarely occurring mineral spertiniite) is formed under alkaline, oxidising conditions. It has been observed as a naturally occurring corrosion product of brass in sea water. But most occurrences on copper alloys are due to conservation treatments using basic solutions (sodium hydroxide or ammonia) or to intentional patination. Classical brass centrepieces (c. 1800), ‘cleaned’ with ammonia solution, developed a blue spertiniite patina in gaps, where evaporation was hindered. Additional to the danger of stress corrosion cracking this is another reason now outlawing this treatment. Copper pigment layers will transform to copper hydroxide when exposed to bases. The treatment of basic copper salts with bases has been used intentionally in the production of Bremen blue and similar pigments which can be composed of copper hydroxide as well.     

The terracotta modelli of Palazzo Venezia in Rome: Investigation of the constituent materials for fundamental knowledge and to aid conservation decisions

This work presents the results of the investigation carried out on a group of terracotta sculptures (modelli) (sixteenth to eighteenth century) belonging to the extraordinary collection of Palazzo Venezia in Rome. The study, the diagnostic analysis, and the conservation work, were possible thanks to the grant supplied by the Getty Foundation of Los Angeles and by the bank Intesa San Paolo. The terracotta modelli had a practical function as they were of great use as sketches to the creation of the final masterpieces or as models for restoration. As a consequence, the terracotta models allow reconstructing the creative process of artists and restorers, fundamental to outlining the ancient workshop production. X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, micro-stratigraphic investigation, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and micro-Raman spectroscopy were chosen as useful techniques to study the morphology and composition of the surface-painted layers. Usually the surfaces were painted in order to simulate the materials of the sculpture for which the model was created, for example lead white was used to obtain a white surface simulating marble. But, often the models were re-painted to make them more attractive for the antique trade. So, several pigments have been found on the surfaces such as zinc white, Prussian blue, chrome yellow, and mono-azo pigment. In some cases, the characterization of the surface paintings was particularly important to the final decision about removing or leaving the surface paint in place.     

The Politics of Memory in Thailand and Australia: National identity,the media and the military

History and Annotated Bibliography of American Religious Periodicals and Newspapers Established from 1730 through 1830 Gaylord P. Albaugh, 1994 Worcester, American Antiquarian Society pp. lxxxix, 1456; 2 vols

The End of News Roger Bird, 1997 Concord, Ontario, Irwin Publishing pp. 167

Commercium litterarium, 1600–1750. La communication dans la République des Lettres [Forms of communication in the Republic of Letters] Studies of the Pierre Bayle Institute, Nijmegan 25 Hans Bots &; Françcoise Waquet, eds, 1994 Maarssen, Academic Publishers Associated pp. xii, 333

Press Censorship in Elizabethan England Cyndia Susan Clegg, 1997 Cambridge, Cambridge University Press pp. xv, 296

Benjamin Collins and the Provincial Newspaper Trade in the Eighteenth Century C.Y. Ferdinand, 1997 Oxford, Clarendon Press pp. xiv, 258

Women Editing Modernism. ‘Little’ Magazines and Literary History Jayne E. Marek, 1995 Lexington, University Press of Kentucky pp. xii, 252

The Popular Magazine in Britain and the United States 1880–1960 David Reed, 1997 London, British Library pp. 287

The Bloody Circus: the ‘Daily Herald’ and the left Huw Richards, 1997 London, Pluto Press pp. x, 256

The Dent Uniform Edition of Dickens’ Journalism Vol. 2. ‘The Amusements of the People’ and Other Papers: reports, essays and reviews 1834–51 Michael Slater, ed., 1996 London, Dent pp. xxxviii, 438

Periodicals of Queen Victoria's Empire: an exploration J. Don Vann &; Rosemary T. Vanarsdel, eds, 1996 Toronto, University of Toronto Press pp. 371     

Attributional support: Targeting attributions underlying recipient emotions

The attribution theory of emotion (Weiner, 1986) is presented as a common example of a naïve theory finding that people expect attributions of personal control and other control to underlie feelings of guilt and anger respectively. The study predicts that supporters use this implicit knowledge to focus their supportive messages on the attributions corresponding to their recipients’ reported emotions. It is also possible that supporters are influenced by their own attributions about support recipients’ problems. The data from 84 college students indicate that the supporters’ intended and actual messages tended to follow their own attributions about their recipients’ situation rather than the attributions implied by the emotions reported by their recipients. It is suggested that some supporters fail to be comforting to their recipients because they do not perceive the situation in the same way as their recipients, and may therefore try to change their recipients ‘ perceptions of their problems.     

A Monument of Byzantine Wall Painting—the Method of Construction

Abstract

Samples of pigments from excavated wall-paintings at the great civilization center of the Greek Bronze Age, Thera, have been analysed by the non-destructive methods of X-ray fluorescence, X-ray diffraction and mineralogical microscopic examination. The results showed that three types of blue pigment were used, namely the well-known Egyptian blue, glaucophane, which is a sodium magnesium (or iron) aluminium hydroxide silicate which occurs as a natural mineral on Santorini, and a mixture of Egyptian blue and glaucophane. Black pigments were rather puzzling in that some of them are carbon as expected, and some are manganese compounds. The rest of the pigments are very similar to those previously examined from Mycenae and Knossos.     

The Stabilizing of Wood found in the Viking Ship of Oseberg—Part II

Abstract

Although smalt, a glass, might be expected to behave as a stable pigment, discolouration of smalt-containing paint layers has been observed. Early references from the literature are cited which mention the discolouration of smalt in oil media. Originally blue layers on paintings have changed into dull grey or greyish-green. Experiments suggest the following factors for this discolouration: low refractive index of the pigment compared with that of oil media; interaction of alkali content or cobalt content with oil and oleo-resinous media; the possibility of similar reactions with resin- or oil-resin varnishes in certain conditions. Discolouration may also occur if smalt is mixed with other pigments, or added as a drier or as an adulterant.

A proper understanding of the mechanism of the deterioration would require further research by more sophisticated methods.     

Notes on reconstructing “the popular”

ABSTRACT

Drawing on Stuart Hall’s influential “Notes on deconstructing ‘the popular’” [Hall, S. (1981). In R. Samuel (Eds.), People’s history and socialist theory (pp. 227–240). London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.], this essay maps out some of the major shifts in cultural studies’ relationship to popular culture over the past several decades. It concludes with a call for cultural studies to find ways to work from the terrain of the popular, rather than merely studying that terrain, or trying to “translate” its scholarly analyses for popular audiences. This is a necessary path to fulfilling its mission as a political project.     

THE PERFECT GENTLEMAN

Erin Mackie explores how Mr Spectator became one persona through which James Boswell represents himself in his London Journal (1762–63), providing an antitype of the ‘rake’ persona which Boswell derives in part from Macheath in The Beggar's Opera. In this antithesis most attention falls on Macheath, but Mackie notes that in Tatler 27 Richard Steele creates a sentimental portrait of the rake as ‘the most agreeable of all Bad Characters’. Thus Boswell finds in the Tatler's rake an image of himself which stands in relation to the disapproving Mr Spectator. With this in mind, Mackie notes that the Spectator papers which describe the Mohock riots of March–April 1712 also characterize such displays as innocuous theatrical expressions of youthful ebullience. Boswell, then, finds acceptable dress for his criminal masculinity by casting himself into a ‘mock-heroic impersonation’ whilst using the narrative position provided by Mr Spectator to give himself ‘spectatorial immunity’.     

ICT's impact on family solidarity and upward mobility in translocal China

Information communication technologies (ICTs) create new channels and repertoires for mediated communication among parents and their children in mobile locations, thus playing a special role in reinvigorating intergenerational family solidarity in contemporary translocal China. For China's rapid, uneven economic development since 1978, social mobility has been fast growing and many family members are separated into different locations for seeking upward mobility as reciprocal aspirations. Some cases of translocal Chinese, studying, working, and living apart from their elderly parents were studied to investigate ICT's impact on family solidarity within the new dynamics of more symbolic and symmetrical family obligations and interactions. Their demonstrations of redefined sociability and intergenerational relationships via connected presence provide a promising new direction for social support and knowledge exchanges in translocal China with a special attention to the multifacets of mobilities and localities in the lives of the contemporary Chinese. A new model of family solidarity is proposed by the proper use of ICTs as new channels for intergenerational communication to supplement but not to replace the traditional ways of ‘togetherness’ by face-to-face interaction among the elderly Chinese parents and their adult children in remote locations. And this is deployed to reinvigorate parent–child relationships of the ‘relational families’ characterized by ‘autonomy of the generations’ in a balance of individualism and collectivism for seeking upward mobility and social cohesion in order to partly solve the social pressure of aging population and rural–urban divide, especially under the special conditions of China's one-child policy and jumping scale of economic development.     

Role of the National Institute for the Visually Handicapped in the Dissemination of Information to Visually Impaired People

ABSTRACT

‘Disability’; the ‘D’ word generally speaks its own meaning, as anyone who is different from others in terms of physical and mental impairment. There are various types of disabilities; broad categories such as physical and communication disability, mental illness and mental retardation, learning disabilities and so forth. In this article, an attempt has been made to describe the term ‘visual impairment’ which falls under the category of physical and communication disability. The next section of the article presents activities of the National Institute for the Visually Handicapped, Dehradun, India to make the visually impaired self-sufficient and to recognize the role played by the Institute in disseminating information to them.