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Subject:ancient "gilding" on stone
Posted By: Sui Mon, Jan 14, 2019 IP: 194.71.109.44

I am trying to identify the origin of a Chinese stone sculpture, stylistically it seems to be from the Northern Qi or Sui dynasty. Under 100x magnification using an USB microscope, the sculpture was covered with “golden gilding”. There appears to be no other pigmented coating on the sculpture.
Using XRD analysis showed that the stone consisted of calcite as the dominant mineral, with a density of 2.731 makes it a dark grey/black limestone or marble and absorption of 0.2 % as though the stone was “sealed”. The surface material seemed to be “coated” with a combination off ankerite, dolomite and graphite. I believe the combination of three minerals were used to simulate a gold gilding on the surface of the stone. The ankerite gave a “gold” appearance which was bonded to the surface through a bitumen (graphite) coating. (see att.) The dolomite is often found in the presence of arkerite.
Is there any information or other examples of this coating system used in ancient chinese sculpture?






Subject:ancient "gilding" on stone
Posted By: sui Thu, Jan 17, 2019

In a recent report ARCHAEOMETRICAL STUDIES ON WALL PAINTINGS OF ZEUGMA (GAZİANTEP) it was determined that “The sources of yellow coloured pigments were identified as ankerite”. These frescos, as I understand are from the 2nd and 3rd century. Attached are photos of the sculpture in question. I think it may be from the 5th or 6th century.



Subject:ancient "gilding" on stone
Posted By: sui Fri, Jan 18, 2019

Is there a chance this is from the Sui dynasty, due to the "female form". The XRD analysis of the stone showed a trace amount of uramarsite. This may place the stone in western China or Mongolia.



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