engleski

Investigation into the nature of metal threads on historical textile

Investigation into the nature of metal threads from historical textiles enables proper decisions about further cleaning, conservation and restoration treatment steps. Metal threads applied on historical textiles were usually strips made from metals wounded around the core fiber yarn. The fiber inside the thread was made of cellulose or protein polymer (cotton, silk, wool and flax), while the metals most commonly used were gold, silver, zinc and copper. The average width of the metal strips used was in between 0.15 and 0.35 mm, and the average thickness varied between 0.005 and 0.030 mm. The most important step during textile conservation is identification of all the materials originally applied in order to understand the nature of chemical and physical degradation that may occur within the various components of the system. Methods applied should be non-destructive and sensitive enough to detect trace elements in small available sample amounts. The goal of this research was to describe the most useful procedures needed for fast and easy determination of specific metals of interest which are important for textile conservation. Therefore we propose application of the scanning electron microscopy equipped with the EDS detector and inductively coupled plasma – optical emission spectroscopy for detection of metals in solid and liquid historical samples, respectively. Examples of nine different metal threads collected from Croatian historical textile materials, in which metals were identified, are presented.

CP-OES; SEM-EDX; historical textile; metal threads; conservation restoration

nije evidentirano