NONDESTRUCTIVE TECHNIQUES IN THE STUDY OF A GILDED METALLIC SWORD FROM THE ISLAMIC ART MUSEUM

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Conservation dept., Faculty of Fine Arts, Minia Univ., Minia, Egypt

2 The Islamic Art Museum, Port Said St., Bab EL Khalk, Cairo, Egypt

3 Physical Chemistry dept., National Research Center, El Buhouth St., Dokki, Cairo, Egypt

Abstract

The paper presents results obtained from investigation of a gilded sword from Islamic Art
Museum in Cairo- Egypt, with multi-analytical non-destructive methods such as optical
microscopy (OM), stereo microscope (SM) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF). The present article
offers a discussion of swords and sabers during the early Islamic period. The paper proposes
a short review on gilding techniques and materials from metal artifacts of cultural heritage.
Modern analytical methods applied to the metallic sword (which has gilded copper and iron
alloys) revealed a number of structures, complex and different. The iron object degraded in
the surrounding environment to emphasizing the chemical and physical processes that occur
according the lying environment; the iron blade of the sword has stress due to cracks and
pitting corrosion. Furthermore, XRF analysis showed that the hilt of the sword coated with
wear and tear gold layer or electrum (an alloy of gold and silver). These results highlighted
the chemical composition of the base alloy and gilding; it offers useful information which helps
in conservation, handling and storage methods to keep the unique sword.

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