A multi-analytical approach towards the investigation of Subarctic Athapaskan colouring of quillwork and its sensitivity to photo-degradation
Non-European dyed materials other than textiles have received comparatively little systematic analysis, this is particularly true for objects made with dyed porcupine quills. This paper presents a comprehensive study of a group of Athapaskan porcupine quill specimens collected in 1862 which are held...
Published in: | Microchemical Journal |
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Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Elsevier
2016
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Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://repository.nms.ac.uk/1541/ http://repository.nms.ac.uk/1541/1/1541_A_multi-analytical_approach_towards_the_investigation_of_Subarctic_Athapaskan_colouring_of_quillwork.pdf https://doi.org/10.1016/j.microc.2015.11.053 |
Summary: | Non-European dyed materials other than textiles have received comparatively little systematic analysis, this is particularly true for objects made with dyed porcupine quills. This paper presents a comprehensive study of a group of Athapaskan porcupine quill specimens collected in 1862 which are held within the collections of National Museums Scotland, UK. Due to sampling limitations micro-destructive testing, or non-invasive analysis using PDA-UPLC, Raman Spectroscopy and PIXE were used to characterise the dye sources and metallic mordants. RBS was used to obtain additional information on the depth-profiling of the mordants in the keratin-based quill. The sensitivity of the quill specimens to photo-degradation was evaluated using Micro Fade Testing (MFT). The results from this multi-analytical study will be used to inform future display regimes of this unique collection. |
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