> Concerning mercury gilding in the west: we know a large number of
> silver vessels with amalgam gilding from the 4th century BC onwards.
> Most of them belong to the Greek, Thracian, Scythian or "mixed" style
> and they appear very often in Hellenistic context from Egypt and Syria
> to Italy and Spain. The earliest examples among them seem to be some
> rhyta from the Black Sea area, dated on stylistic ground in the early
> 4th century BC. Excavated silver vases with mercury gilding from the
> same area date from the second quarter or middle of the 4th century
> BC. [Early rhyta without context: In pursuit of the absolute: The
> George Ortiz Collection, Bern 1996 Other silver vases with mercury
> gilding from excavations: Galanina et al., L'art scythe, Leningrad
> 1981 Marazov, I. (ed.), Ancient Gold: the Wealth of the Thracians,
> 1998] A first mention on 4th century BC gilding for the Greek world
> appears already in a footnote of the first chapter (technical aspects)
> in Strong, D., Greek and Roman Gold and Silver Plate London 1966.
> There is since more literature, mainly articles by Eluere, Oddy,
> Anheuser and others. For full references of these articles and
> generally on the question, contact me of-list.
>
> PhD Athanasios Sideris
> Archaeologist
> Knowledge Base Coordinator
> Foundation of the Hellenic World
Any identification of amalgam gilding on Hellenistic objects should
be treated with extreme caution. Whilst it is not impossible that
eventually some genuine Hellenistic fire-gilding may turn up I don't
know of any securely identified example. All too often in catalogues
sweeping statements are made, just as sometimes any copper
alloy is still called "bronze" and any red gemstone a "ruby". The
example from the Ortiz collection is in my opinion certainly
diffusion-bonded gold leaf, and this is likely to be the case for most
gilded silver of this period.
Kilian Anheuser
*************************
Dr Kilian Anheuser
Lecturer in Conservation Science
School of History & Archaeology
Cardiff University
P. O. Box 909
Cardiff
CF10 3XU
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Tel +44-29-2087-5157 (office), -6771 (lab), -6382 (SEM)
Fax +44-29-2087-4929
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