Orange for gold? Arsenic sulfide glass on the V&A Leman Album

Abstract

The so‐called Leman Album comprises over 90 designs for woven silks drawn and coloured in the early 18th century by James Leman, a designer and weaver operating in Spitalfields, East London. The designs are characterised by a very broad palette, which was investigated at the Victoria and Albert Museum using exclusively non‐invasive techniques. Notably, a bright and vibrant orange material was very popular with Leman, who used it extensively. X‐ray fluorescence tests showed that arsenic and sulfur were the predominant elements in the orange areas. A mixture of bright red, orange, and yellow particles could be seen under high magnification. These different types of particles were identified by Raman spectroscopy as arsenic sulfide glasses, that is artificial materials used as substitutes for naturally occurring pigments such as orpiment and realgar. In a few cases, a small amount of mineral orpiment was also detected. Such an extensive use of this artificial pigment is not commonly recorded in the literature. Because in a few of the handwritten comments that Leman made on the reverse of his designs he clearly stated “the orange colour to be gold,” we can reasonably hypothesise that this orange pigment was used for the parts that were intended to be woven with gilded metal threads. Textile designs made by other pattern‐makers working in Spitalfields in the same period as Leman were also analysed for comparison. Arsenic sulfide glass was detected in most of the orange areas, confirming that this material was certainly popular amongst silk designers of 18th‐century London.

Pigments—Arsenic-based yellows and reds

“…5). And it was still Raman microscopy which helped identifying and characterizing arsenic glass used as a pigment (Vermeulen et al 2015;Vermeulen and Leona 2019;Burgio et al 2019).…”

“…Japanese woodblock prints have been studied extensively and were shown to contain synthetic arsenic sulfides (Vermeulen and Leona 2019). Synthetic arsenic pigments were also detected in a French rococo oil painting and Japanese leather paper , and arsenic sulfide glass was found in many early 18 th -century designs for woven silk made by designer and weaver James Leman in London (Burgio et al 2019).…”

Recent advances in linear and nonlinear Raman spectroscopy. Part XIV

“…Arjonilla et al [ 139 ] used Raman and FTIR microspectroscopies to reveal medieval Hispano–Muslim wood painting techniques and provide new insights into red lead production technology. Burgio et al [ 140 ] studied orange for gold by the use of arsenic sulfide glass in the Leman Album at the Victoria and Albert Museum. They reported that arsenic sulfide glass was detected in most of the orange areas, thus confirming that this material was popular among silk designers of 18th‐century London.…”

GeoRaman

“…A detailed study of the Leman Album, present in the V&A collection (London) is presented by Burgio et al, [40] including the characterization of arsenic sulfide glasses as unusual pigment used as substitutes for orpiment and relagar. The combined Raman, SEM-EDX, XRD study of the mineral phases present in archaeological ceramics coming from Karelia (Russia) allowed Chazhengina et al [41] to determine their firing conditions, in terms of temperature and atmosphere.…”