They further enhance them with polychrome decoration to increase their ostentatious value until the second century ad, when the taste for visual effects and for coloured metal contrasts fade gradually for chromatic drapery. Manlius Vulso’s victory in the campaign against the Galatians in 187 bc. Livy’s History of Rome ( Ab Urbe condita libri, XXXIX, 6) and Pliny the Elder’s Natural History ( Naturalis Historia, XXXIV, 8, 14) tell us that the Roman discovery of these luxurious furnishings takes place during the triumph celebrating General Cn. The chronological parameters of my research are defined by archaeological discoveries, by the evolution of customs, and by the political and military events that played a major role in the emergence and development of Hellenic-inspired furniture in Rome. The aim of this research is to characterize the specificity and originality of the use of bronze as a custom of Greco-Roman elite, the owners of this ostentatious furniture. Using context, techno-typological study, physicochemical analysis, and digital imaging, it puts colours back into the discussion of luxury bronze furnishings.
It employs archaeological, archaeometric and sociological methodologies. My thesis explores the history of both techniques, arts, and mentality. The collection of colour swatches can also be helpful in restoration work with the data of physicochemical analyses. The chaîne opératoire is a concept defined for the first time by the French Prehistorian André Leroi-Gourhan (1911-1986) to analyse all the stages of the process of making and using an object (de Beaune 2000). Initial results suggest that the colours of bronze luxury furniture vary greatly, and that the spectrum of colours is a product of bronze alloy composition, and of the techniques used in finishing the surface, either polishing or patina application.Īs part of my thesis, entitled The colours of bronze ceremonial furniture in the Greco-Roman world, 200 bc – 200 ad: from technical characterization to symbolic values, and in addition to a techno-typological corpus of luxury bronze furniture and a corpus of literary sources referring to the colour of antique bronzes, I have developed an experimental archaeology project to create a collection of swatches of the spectrum of colours of antique bronzes, to understand the chaîne opératoire of foundry element manufacturing, and for the restoration of original colours of Greco-Roman bronze furniture. Some platelet samples from this collection of swatches have also been analysed to determine their elemental composition and their patina, so as to compare them to archaeological materials. This study combines the processes of the lost wax method and the addition of polychrome bronze surfaces (patina, inlay and gilding). The collection of swatches I created gathers the spectrum of colours of antique bronzes, and allows for a restoration the original colours of the objects of my study: Greco-Roman bronze furniture. Archaeological bronzes also may suffer from overly aggressive restorations which scour original surfaces or cover them with a layer of paint imitating green corrosion. Unfortunately, copper alloy materials recovered from archaeological sites suffer from the effects of time and deposition, which may lead to corrosion and discolouring of the surface, often appearing green or brown. Other metals and alloys (copper, silver, gold, Corinthian bronze) can be inlaid by damascening, or by plating to create polychrome decorations. The colour of the alloy can be maintained by polishing, but it is also possible to give a patina to the surface of bronze using a reagent. Hellenistic and Roman bronze objects have a variable percentage of metals, and because of this the colour of the alloy will differ depending on the proportions. Putting life into Late Neolithic housesīronze is an alloy of copper and tin, with lead also added.Experimental Archaeology the Exhibition.
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