The “Coptic” textiles of the “Museo Egizio” in Torino (Italy): a focus on dyes through a multi-technique approach

Gulmini, Monica; Idone, Ambra; Davit, Patrizia; Moi, M.; Carrillo, Manuel; Ricci, Chiara; Bello, Federica Dal; Borla, Matilde; Oliva, Cinzia; Greco, Christian; Aceto, Maurizio

doi:10.1007/s12520-016-0376-2

Cited by 25 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…The reflectance properties of the red colourant would mostly be obscured by the coating of indigo on the surface, partially explaining the results. A similar effect, where madder signals in the FORS spectra were masked due to a double-dyeing process with lac over madder, has been previously observed [ 14 ].…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 72%

“…Differently luminescing areas of red colourants ( Fig 5B ), with the deeper reds (such as those at A1, A9 and A10) appearing darker, and the lighter-coloured reds (such as those at A11) emitting pink luminescence, were also observed in the UVL images of textile fragment A. The apparent absorption data obtained from FORS measurements of all these areas ( Table 2 ) showed a pair of absorption maxima at 510 and 545 nm, indicative of a red dye of plant origin [ 14 , 15 ]. In the lighter red areas some contribution in the area around 400 nm (absorption maximum at c. 420 nm), suggesting possible mixtures with yellow colourants was observed.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…The orange stripes, S3 and S6 were observed to emit bright pink luminescence in the UVL image ( Fig 4B ), which was interpreted as being associated with a red colourant, such as madder [ 32 , 33 ]. Fig 10 shows the apparent absorption data obtained from FORS measurements of these areas, which gave a pair of absorption maxima at 510 and 545 nm, indicative of a red dye of plant origin [ 14 , 15 ]. HPLC-MS analysis performed on a sample taken from stripe S3 showed the presence of alizarin, purpurin, pseudopurpurin, xanthopurpurin, rubiadin, munjistin and other anthraquinones associated with madder derived from a Rubia species ( Table 2 ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A multispectral imaging approach integrated into the study of Late Antique textiles from Egypt

et al. 2018

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This work explores the use of multispectral imaging (MSI) techniques applied to the investigation of Late Antique (c. 250–800 AD) textiles found in Egypt. Although the use of these techniques is well-established in the study of polychrome surfaces, they have only been sparingly and often unsystematically applied to the investigation of textiles. The aim of this work is therefore to bridge this gap by showing how this non-invasive, relatively inexpensive and portable methodology can be used to map the photoluminescence and reflective characteristics of textiles under different wavelengths of light, and to provide qualitative and holistic insights into the chemical nature of the materials that compose them. Standardised acquisition and post-processing methods were applied to produce visible-reflected (VIS), ultraviolet-induced visible luminescence (UVL), infrared-reflected (IRR), infrared-reflected false colour (IRRFC), ultraviolet-reflected (UVR) and ultraviolet-reflected false colour (UVRFC) images that provided preliminary indications of the colourants used and their spatial distribution. This proved to be an important aid in planning more targeted and effective sampling strategies and facilitated comparisons between objects. Visible-induced visible luminescence (VIVL) and multiband-reflected (MBR) imaging were also explored for the first time with application to textiles, demonstrating their potential in mapping red and blue colourants respectively. The physical properties observed from all of these images were then related to the more detailed information provided by complementary non-invasive techniques, such as fibre optic reflectance spectroscopy (FORS), and micro-invasive approaches, such as high-performance liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS). Guidelines towards the interpretation of complex MSI images and a discussion of the potential and limitations of relating multispectral data to chemical properties are presented. An important result of this work is the delineation of a protocol, which combines optical microscopy (OM), MSI, FORS and HPLC-MS and shows a high degree of potential, not only for the investigation of Late Antique textiles but for textiles in museum and historic collections generally.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 72%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 94%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A multispectral imaging approach integrated into the study of Late Antique textiles from Egypt

et al. 2018

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“…Minoan (Crete) [49] Hurrian (Chagar Bazar, Qatna) [47,48] Phoenician [76][77][78][79][80][81] Phoenician-Punic [82] Submycenaean/Protogeometric (Greek) [83] Orientalising/early Archaic (Etruscan) [84] Archaic (Greek) [85] Persian [46] Classical (Greek) [7,[86][87][88] Hellenistic (Greek & Etruscan) [58,[89][90][91] Jewish [92] Roman [31][32][33][93][94][95][96] Sarmatian [97,98] Coptic-Egyptian [34,97,[99][100][101][102][103][104] Arab (pre-Islamic period) [36] Byzantine [7,30,42] Case Study: Identification of Shellfish Purple in a Hellenistic Textile…”

Section: Provenance Referencementioning

confidence: 99%

A Review on the Archaeological Chemistry of Shellfish Purple

Karapanagiotis

2019

Sustainability

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Shellfish purple, also known as Tyrian purple and royal purple, has a long history, which has been revealed and documented in recent years through valid physicochemical studies using sophisticated techniques. The aim of the work was to summarize the conclusions of these studies and to describe the results of two unpublished investigations regarding the (i) identification of shellfish purple in a textile (4th century BCE) from ancient Macedonia and (ii) dramatic effect of the dyeing conditions on the composition of the purple dye. Moreover, a critical discussion is included about the discovery of the shellfish pigment and dye based on the available scientific evidence. Previously published reports describing the identification of the shellfish colorant in objects of the cultural heritage were carefully summarized. Shellfish purple was not used only as colorant, but it served other purposes as emphasized in this review. In particular, examples for the use of shellfish purple in medicine, grave goods and fillers and plasters in walls, were described. Examples of materials and methods that were used in the past to produce “fake” purple, imitating the aesthetic result of the valuable royal marine material were summarized. Finally, the solubility of indigoids was discussed using modern approaches of physical chemistry.

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“…Nonetheless, non-invasive investigations produce limited information, especially when it comes to yellow dyes, most of which are hardly distinguishable from each other in terms of their fluorescence and reflectance spectra, or dye mixtures. As a result, recent studies have focused on the delineation of protocols aimed at identifying dyes in textiles using a combination of non-invasive techniques (microscopy, FORS and MSI), whose results can guide a selective sampling of areas of particular interest to be analyzed by HPLC techniques [40,54,[56][57][58].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the transition from natural to synthetic dyes in the production of 19th-century Central Asian ikat textiles

et al. 2020

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This study focuses on the dye analysis of 26 ikat textiles present in the collection of the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and originally collected by Dr. Guido Goldman with the aim to gain additional information about their provenance and dating. The investigation exploits the full potential of a multi-analytical approach, starting with a non-invasive survey of all the colors using fiber optic reflectance spectroscopy (FORS), which revealed the presence of indigo and insect-based red dyes. These data were used to select areas from which samples were taken and analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography diode array detector (HPLC–DAD). These results enabled most of the natural sources of dyes to be fully identified, including American cochineal (Dactylopius coccus), madder (probably Rubia tinctorum), lac (probably Kerria lacca), larkspur (Delphinum semibarbatum), pagoda tree flower buds (Sophora japonica), grape vine leaves (Vitis vinifera), indigo and tannins. Complex mixtures of dyes were present in most samples, as a result of both the ikat making process itself and traditional dyeing practices. Synthetic dyes were identified in 9 of the textiles. Samples were re-analyzed using HPLC–DAD coupled to mass spectrometry (HPLC–DAD-MS). Malachite green (basic green 4, C.I. 42000), fuchsine (basic violet 14, C.I. 42510), rhodamine B (basic violet 10, C.I. 45170) and methyl violet (basic violet 1, C.I. 42535) were identified, and a few other tentatively identified synthetic dyes (probably orange I, II and IV, rhodamine 6G, patent blue V and alizarin yellow GG) were detected. As the first synthesis of early synthetic dyes is well documented, their presence was used to refine the dating of these textiles. The contextualization of the results also appeared to support the stylistic assumption that more intricate and colorful designs with a higher level of complexity are dated earlier than simpler, larger and more graphic ones. The overall information acquired reveals a dynamic scenario and an interesting window into the dyers’ experiments and adjustments to the economic and technological changes of the nineteenth century.

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The “Coptic” textiles of the “Museo Egizio” in Torino (Italy): a focus on dyes through a multi-technique approach

Cited by 25 publications

References 21 publications

A multispectral imaging approach integrated into the study of Late Antique textiles from Egypt

A multispectral imaging approach integrated into the study of Late Antique textiles from Egypt

A Review on the Archaeological Chemistry of Shellfish Purple

Exploring the transition from natural to synthetic dyes in the production of 19th-century Central Asian ikat textiles

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