Antiques, their restoration and preservation / by A. Lucas.

  • Alfred Lucas
Date:
[1932]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Antiques, their restoration and preservation / by A. Lucas. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    partly to the general knowledge that ancient copper and bronze objects as found are frequently green and hence to the fear that an object that is not green may be looked upon as not genuine, and partly to the idea that a patina enhances the beauty of an object. It is acknowledged that a patina may be more pleasing than a bright polished surface, and that a green patina on a modern bronze is often beautiful, but to obtain such a patina on ancient objects is impossible and the poor substitutes that alone are possible are usually not beautiful. A great disadvantage, too, of the modern green patina is that it is often produced by means of hydrochloric acid or of soluble chlorides and therefore it may be the starting-point of fresh corrosion, chlorides being the agents that cause the so-called “ malignant patina ” or “ bronze disease.” The aim in clean¬ ing antique objects should be to restore, as far as possible, the original appearance of the object, which in the case of copper and bronze, is neither the brightness of new metal nor the green of artificial patina, but the slightly dull appearance of metal in everyday use. Cleaning does not always produce a bright surface on copper or bronze, the result depending upon several factors, including the composition of the alloy, the nature of the cleaning process
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