| Popis: |
The present surface of an ancient gold object, typically matt and often purer than the underlying metal, will not always reflect the originally intended appearance. The two variables are colour and texture. Colour could be controlled by choice of alloy (extreme varieties such as red copper/gold alloys are less common after the Bronze Age) or by surface treatments including etching to enrich the surface. Texture ranged from a bright shiny surface – naturally resulting from the soldering and other processes used or deliberately produced by abrasive polishing or burnishing – to a matt surface caused by chemical etching or, in theory, coarser abrasion. The processes used were often limited by the nature of the object, for example a granulated Etruscan ornament could not be burnished. This chapter considers the evidence, which although limited so far, tends to suggest that ancient gold jewellery was more often intended to be bright and shiny than its present appearance might suggest. |
