Amalgam tinning of Chinese bronze antiquities

2025-01-07 Classification：history Click()
Author：Anheuser, K

Article Title：Amalgam tinning of Chinese bronze antiquities

Abstract：
This paper investigates the question whether or not amalgam tinning was used for the plating of bronze objects in pre-Han and Han dynasty China. The relevant literary sources are reviewed and amalgam tinning is characterized experimentally with regard to its microstructure and residual mercury content using metallography and electron microprobe analysis. Examination of a tinning sample from a Warring States dagger previously assumed to be amalgam tinned demonstrates that this was probably not the case, but that a trace of mercury found in the plating is likely to be the result of contamination.

Keywords: China; pre-Han Dynasty; Han Dynasty; scanning electron microscopy; x-ray mapping; dagger; bronze; mercury; tinning

DOI: 10.1111/j.1475-4754.2000.tb00875.x

Source：ARCHAEOMETRY

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