Irogane
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Irogane
''Irogane'' (色金 "coloured metals")Vienna, Bohlau Verlag, 2009: Griesser-Stermscheg & Krist, eds., Metallkonservierung, Metallrestaurierung: Geschichte, Methode, Praxis is the term for a set of Japanese metals – forms of copper (with natural impurities), and copper alloys – treated in '' niiro'' patination processes,London, UK, 1988: International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works, Studies in Conservation – The Conservation of Far Eastern Art (Kyoto Congress 1988 Preprints), Mills ''et al''., eds., p. 133-136: Murakami et al, "Characterization of the black surface layer on a copper alloy coloured by traditional Japanese surface treatment" – "Irogane is the general term for the alloys coloured ..." traditionally used in sword-making, catches for sliding doors, and luxury highlights on larger objects, and in modern times, in jewellery. The alloys contain two to five metals. Some scholars believe that methods similar to those involved in iro ...
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Niiro
, also known as , , or , is an historically Japanese patination process, responsible for the colouration of copper and certain of its alloys, resulting in the ''irogane'' class of craft metals, including '' shakudo'',Oxford, Butterworth-Heinemannm 1993: La Niece and Craddock, eds, Metal Plating and Patination: cultural, technical and historical developments - Chap. 7, Murakami, Ryu, "Japanese Traditional Alloys" '' shibuichi'' and '' kuromido''. It is now practiced in a number of countries, primarily for the making of jewellery and decorative sword fittings, but also for material for hollowware and sculpture. Importantly, the same process operates differently on different metals so that a piece with multiple components can be treated in one patination session, developing a range of colours. Etymology All forms of the name refer to the nature of the patination process in Japanese, as this was an exclusively Japanese technique. ''Ni-iro'' refers to boiling or broiling, and colo ...
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Rokushō
is a traditional Japanese chemical compound used in the ''niiro'' process for artificially inducing patination in decorative non-ferrous metals, especially several copper alloys, with the results being metals of the ''irogane'' class. It is most commonly translated as malachite; in art, ''rokushō'' was the most widely used green pigment. These "colour metals", virtually unknown outside Japan until the late 19th century, have achieved some popularity in craft circles in other parts of the world since then. Usage ''Rokushō'' is used to treat a number of metals, including raw natural copper, which holds impurities, purified copper, and copper alloy mixes with two to five metals, to produce ''irogane'' metals, including: ''shakudō'', an alloy of copper and gold, which becomes black to dark blue-violet; '' shibuichi'', an alloy of fine silver and copper (in a higher percentage than sterling), which turns grey to misty aquamarine or other shades of blue to green; '' kuromido'' ...
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Shibuichi
is a historically Japanese copper alloy, a member of the '' irogane'' class, which is patinated into a range of subtle greys and muted shades of blue, green, and brown, through the use of '' niiro'' processes, involving the '' rokushō'' compound. Naming ''Shibuichi'' means "one-fourth" in Japanese, and indicates the standard formulation of one part silver to three parts copper, though this may vary considerably according to the desired effect. Several major variants of the alloy have specific names, as detailed below. In addition, the metal in general, and especially the paler shades, may be named ''rogin''. Composition Aside from the basic 25% silver to 75% copper mix, combinations as divergent as 5% silver to 95% copper are also marketed as "shibuichi".Art Jewelry Magazine, March, 2010. A wide range of colours can be achieved using the whole range of alloy compositions, even above 50% silver, e.g. 90% copper and 10% silver for a dark grey and down to 70% copper and 30% sil ...
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Kuromido
''Kuromido'' (Japanese: 黒味銅) is an historically Japanese copper alloy, typically of 99% copper and 1% metallic arsenic,Oxford, Butterworth-Heinemannm 1993: La Niece and Craddock, eds, Metal Plating and Patination: cultural, technical and historical developments - Chap. 7, Murakami, Ryu, "Japanese Traditional Alloys" one of the class of irogane metals. It is used in the production of other alloys, and in decorative fittings, as well as in mokume-gane processes. See also * ''Shakudō'' * ''Shibuichi'' * Corinthian bronze and ''hepatizon'' (Black bronze) * ''Electrum'' * ''Orichalcum'' * ''Panchaloha'' * ''Tumbaga ''Tumbaga'' is the name given by Spanish Conquistadors for a non-specific alloy of gold and copper, and metals composed of these elements. Pieces made of tumbaga were widely found in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica in North America and South America. ...'' External sources * References Irogane Copper alloys Arsenic {{alloy-stub ...
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Panchaloha
''Panchaloha'' (), also called ''Pañcadhātu'' (), is a term for traditional five-metal alloys of sacred significance, used for making Hinduism, Hindu temple ''murti'' and jewellery. Composition The composition is laid down in the ''Shilpa shastras'', a collection of ancient texts that describe arts, crafts, and their design rules, principles and standards. Panchaloha is traditionally described as an alloy of Gold (element), gold, silver, copper, zinc, and iron. It is believed that wearing jewellery made of such an alloy brings balance in life, self-confidence, good health, fortune, prosperity, and peace of mind. In Tibetan culture, it was considered auspicious to use ''thokcha'' (iron meteorite, meteoric iron) either as a component of the alloy in general or for a specific object or purpose. The amount used could vary, depending upon the material's availability and suitability, among other considerations. A small, largely symbolic quantity of "sky-iron" might be added, or i ...
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Orichalcum
Orichalcum (or aurichalcum) or orichalc is a metal mentioned in several ancient writings, including the story of Atlantis in the ''Critias'' of Plato. Within the dialogue, Critias (460–403 BC) says that orichalcum had been considered second only to gold in value and had been found and mined in many parts of Atlantis in ancient times, but that by Critias's own time, orichalcum was known only by name. Orichalcum may have been a noble metal such as platinum, as it was supposed to be mined, but has been identified as pure copper or certain alloys of bronze, and especially brass alloys in the case of antique Roman coins, the latter being of "similar appearance to modern brass" according to scientific research. Overview The name is derived from the Greek , ' (from , ', mountain and , ', copper), literally meaning "mountain copper". The Romans transliterated "orichalcum" as "aurichalcum", which was thought to mean literally "gold copper". It is known from the writings of Cicer ...
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Electrum
Electrum is a naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver, with trace amounts of copper and other metals. Its color ranges from pale to bright yellow, depending on the proportions of gold and silver. It has been produced artificially and is also known as "Colored gold#Green gold, green gold".Emsley, John (2003Nature's building blocks: an A–Z guide to the elements Oxford University Press. p. 168. . Electrum was used as early as the third millennium BC in the Old Kingdom of Egypt, sometimes as an exterior coating to the pyramidion, pyramidia atop ancient Egyptian pyramids and obelisks. It was also used in the making of ancient Beaker (archaeology) , drinking vessels. The first known metal coins made were of electrum, dating back to the end of the 7th century or the beginning of the 6th century BC. Etymology The name ''electrum'' is the Latinized form of the Greek language, Greek word ἤλεκτρον (''ḗlektron''), mentioned in the ''Odyssey'', referring to a metallic s ...
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Hepatizon
''Hepatizon'' (Greek etymology: , English language, English translation: "liver"), also known as black Corinthian bronze, was a highly valuable metal alloy in classical antiquity. It is thought to be an alloy of copper with the addition of a small proportion of gold and silver (perhaps as little as 8% of each), mixed and treated to produce a material with a dark purplish patina, similar to the colour of liver. It is referred to in various ancient texts, but few known examples of hepatizon exist today. Of the known types of bronze or brass in classical antiquity (known in Latin as ''aes'' and in Greek as χαλκός), hepatizon was the second most valuable. Pliny the Elder mentions it in his ''Naturalis Historia, Natural History'', stating that it is less valuable than Corinthian bronze, which contained a greater proportion of gold or silver and as a result resembled the precious metals, but was esteemed before bronze from Delos and Aegina.
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Corinthian Bronze
Corinthian bronze, also named Corinthian brass, aes Corinthiacum, or Grilver was a metal alloy in classical antiquity. It is thought to be an alloy of copper with gold or silver (or both), although it has also been contended that it was simply a very high grade of bronze, or a kind of bronze that was manufactured in Corinth. It is referred to in various ancient texts, but no certain examples of Corinthian bronze exist today. However, it has been increasingly suggested that a number of artefacts previously described as niello in fact use a technique of patinated metal that may be the same as Corinthian bronze and is similar to the Japanese shakudō. Its composition was long a mystery, but contemporary thinking is that Corinthian bronze was "a patinated alloy of copper with some gold and silver", perhaps the same as the ''hesmen kem'' or "black copper" of Ancient Egyptian art. This is shown by ancient texts to be a prestigious material, and apparently survives in a number of s ...
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Speiss
Speisses are alloys of heavy metals like iron, cobalt, nickel and copper White, L.A. "The development of the lead blast furnace at Port Pirie, South Australia", ''Transactions AIME, Vol 188, October 1950, Journal of Metals'', pages 1221–1228. with arsenic, antimony and, occasionally, tin. The latter elements lower the melting point to around 1000 °C. Speisses commonly occur in lead smelting operationsSamans, Carl H. ''Engineering Metals and their Alloys'', 1949 MacMillan and copper smelting operations. Speisses are only partially miscible with mattes, and if there is enough arsenic or antimony in the copper feed to a matte smelting furnace, a separate speiss melt can form. Speisses show high affinities for platinum group metals and gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition ...
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Mokume-gane
is a Japanese metalworking procedure which produces a mixed-metal laminate with distinctive layered patterns; the term is also used to refer to the resulting laminate itself. The term translates closely to 'wood grain metal' or 'wood eye metal' and describes the way metal takes on the appearance of natural wood grain. fuses several layers of differently coloured precious metals together to form a sandwich of alloys called a "billet." The billet is then manipulated in such a way that a pattern resembling wood grain emerges over its surface. Numerous ways of working create diverse patterns. Once the metal has been rolled into a sheet or bar, several techniques are used to produce a range of effects. has been used to create many artistic objects. Though the technique was first developed for production of decorative sword fittings, the craft is today mostly used in the production of jewelry and hollowware. History Origins First developed in 17th-century Japan, was originally ...
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Japanese Sword Mountings
Japanese sword mountings are the various housings and associated fittings (''Commons:Tosogu (Japanese sword fittings), tosogu'') that hold the blade of a Japanese sword when it is being worn or stored. refers to the ornate mountings of a Japanese sword (e.g. ''katana'') used when the sword blade is being worn by its owner, whereas the ''Commons:shirasaya, shirasaya'' is a plain undecorated wooden mounting composed of a ''Commons:Saya, saya'' and ''Commons:Tsuka, tsuka'' that the sword blade is stored in when not being used. Components *: The ''Commons:category:Fuchi, fuchi'' is a hilt collar between the ''Commons:category:Tsuka, tsuka'' and the ''Commons:category:Tsuba, tsuba''. *: The ''Commons:category:Habaki, habaki'' is a wedge-shaped metal collar used to keep the sword from falling out of the ''Commons:category:Saya, saya'' and to support the fittings below; fitted at the ''ha-machi'' and ''mune-machi'' which precede the ''Commons:category:Nakago, nakago''. *: A hook-sha ...
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