Conservation and Restoration of Metal Artifacts

A special issue of Heritage (ISSN 2571-9408).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 November 2024 | Viewed by 1606

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Conservation of Antiquities and Works of Art, University of West Attica, Aigaleo, Greece
Interests: metals cultural heritage; corrosion; treatments; corrosion inhibitors; coatings; green methods; marine conservation
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Guest Editor
Conservation of Antiquities and Works of Art, University of West Attica, Aigaleo, Greece
Interests: archaeological metals conservation; NDT analytical techniques; ancient technology; marine conservation; metals protection

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Guest Editor
Departement Loire Atlantique, Grand Patrimoine, Arc’Antique Lab, 44300 Nantes, France
Interests: conservation–restoration; metal/corrosion; electrochemistry; gels

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The last decade has seen extensive research focus on implementation of a number of spectroscopic, electrochemical and imaging techniques, green materials and technologies, digital tools and methods for the conservation and restoration of metal artifacts. Both terrestrial and marine metal artifacts are complicated to understand their original metal alloy composition, corrosion layers, and stability after excavation or treatment.  Routine practices and materials used for the storage, treatment, protection, display, and transport of these artifacts are today deemed either as not safe or with a great impact on the environment. There is a concerted effort by conservation professionals to understand the carbon footprint of the materials they use in their practices so as to help make better choices to reduce their impact on the environment.

The goal of this Special Issue is to collect papers (original research articles and review papers) to give insights about these new applications with the aim to better understand the alloy compositions and corrosion matrix of metal artifacts from different environments, new materials or technologies for the remedial conservation of metal artifacts, new materials or methods for storage, display, or transport of metal artifacts, in situ conservation of metal artifacts.

This Special Issue will welcome manuscripts that link the following themes:

  1. Museum environment and climate for metal artifacts;
  2. Green materials and technologies for conservation and restoration of metal artifacts;
  3. Non-invasive portable analytical techniques for in situ analysis and diagnosis of metal alloys and surfaces, as well as the monitoring of metals artifacts in their surrounding environment;
  4. In situ conservation of metal artifacts;
  5. Characterization studies of metal artifacts including corrosion matrix.

We look forward to receiving your original research articles and reviews.

Prof. Dr. Vasilike Argyropoulos
Dr. Maria Giannoulaki
Dr. Elodie Guilminot
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Heritage is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • metal artifacts
  • green materials and technologies
  • noninvasive portable analytical techniques
  • museum environment
  • in situ conservation
  • material characterization

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 3912 KiB  
Article
Experimental Study of Chalconatronite: From Its Identification to the Treatment of Copper Alloy Objects
by Charlène Pelé-Meziani, Aymeric Raimon, Jean-Yves Mevellec and Elodie Guilminot
Heritage 2024, 7(6), 2866-2879; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage7060135 (registering DOI) - 1 Jun 2024
Abstract
On the occasion of the reopening of the Dobrée Museum (Nantes, France), two statuettes of Egyptian origin, representing Harpocrate and Isis, were studied to shed light on the presence of the blue-green efflorescence on their surface. The efflorescence on the Harpocrate statuette was [...] Read more.
On the occasion of the reopening of the Dobrée Museum (Nantes, France), two statuettes of Egyptian origin, representing Harpocrate and Isis, were studied to shed light on the presence of the blue-green efflorescence on their surface. The efflorescence on the Harpocrate statuette was identified as being chalconatronite, while that which was present on the Isis statuette corresponded to sodium copper formate/acetate, probably due to the evolution of chalconatronite in an environment containing VOCs. The efflorescence appeared to be sensitive to the cyclic variation in relative humidity whereas it seemed stable. An experimental curative treatment to halt the reappearance was carried out. A series of pure water baths extracted a significant quantity of sodium. The treatment appeared effective and reduced the risk of a recrudescence of the efflorescence for both statuettes. However, when the efflorescence was dissolved on the Isis statuette, other compounds appeared to react with water, leading to acidification and a potential reaction with the lead in the alloy. A layer of lead carbonate/acetate on the surface appeared. The objects were then dried and protected with a highly concentrated acrylic varnish. They are currently being monitored to identify any new efflorescence that may appear during display. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Conservation and Restoration of Metal Artifacts)
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14 pages, 6863 KiB  
Article
Metal Fragments of Roman Pipes from Pompeii: Investigations on Copper-Based Alloys, Corrosion Products, and Surface Treatments
by Sofia Schiattone, Carla Martini, Marco Malagodi, Giacomo Fiocco, Eleonora Rocconi, Maria Morisco and Cristina Chiavari
Heritage 2024, 7(5), 2538-2551; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage7050121 - 14 May 2024
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Abstract
This work reports the study of metal fragments from Roman pipes excavated from the archaeological site of Pompeii and currently preserved in the deposits of the National Archaeological Museum of Naples (MANN). The Roman pipe, called the tibia, is a reed wind [...] Read more.
This work reports the study of metal fragments from Roman pipes excavated from the archaeological site of Pompeii and currently preserved in the deposits of the National Archaeological Museum of Naples (MANN). The Roman pipe, called the tibia, is a reed wind musical instrument similar to the Greek aulos. It can be made of wood, bone, and/or metal. Materials consisting of metal Cu-based alloys were excavated from archaeological burial environments. This research aims to identify the composition of the alloys, characterize the corrosion patinas, and identify any ancient surface treatments on the fragments. Non-invasive and micro-invasive techniques were used to achieve this aim, i.e., optical microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, attenuated total reflectance Fourier-transform infrared spectrophotometry, scanning electron microscopy, and energy dispersive spectrometry. This research contributes to a deeper understanding of the materials and manufacturing techniques used for these instruments, as well as the degradation processes occurring over the centuries. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Conservation and Restoration of Metal Artifacts)
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