Pigments, corrosion products, and minerals are usually considered separately, either as painting materials or as the deterioration products of metals, even though they are often the same compounds. This 190-year review of the literature on copper and its alloys integrates that information across a broad spectrum of interests that are all too frequently compartmentalized. The author discusses the various environmental conditions to which copper-alloy objects may be exposed—including burial, outdoor, and indoor museum environments—and the methods used to conserve them. The book also includes information on ancient and historical technologies, the nature of patina as it pertains to copper and bronze, and the use of copper corrosion materials as pigments.

Chapters are organized primarily by chemical corrosion products and include topics such as early technologies, copper chlorides and bronze disease, the chemistry and history of turquoise, Egyptian blue and other synthetic copper silicates, the organic salts of copper in bronze corrosion, and aspects of bronze patinas. A detailed survey of conservation treatments for bronze objects is also provided. Four appendixes cover copper and bronze chemistry, replication experiments for early pigment recipes, a list of copper minerals and corrosion products, and X-ray diffraction studies.

• FOREWORD, Timothy P. Whalen
• PREFACE
• INTRODUCTION
• CHAPTER 1: CORROSION AND ENVIRONMENT
  • The Anatomy of Corrosion
    • The electrochemical series
  • Some Historical Aspects of Copper and Corrosion
    • Primitive wet-cell batteries?
    • Early technologies with copper and iron
    • Early history of electrochemical plating
    • Copper in early photography
    • Dezincification
  • Pourbaix Diagrams and Environmental Effects
    • The burial environment
    • The outdoor environment
    • The indoor museum environment
    • The marine environment
  • Copper in Contact with Organic Materials
    • Positive replacement and mineralization of organic materials
  • The Metallography of Corroded Copper Objects
  • Corrosion Products and Pigments
• CHAPTER 2: OXIDES AND HYDROXIDES
  • Cuprite
    • Properties of cuprite
    • Natural cuprite patinas
    • Intentional cuprite patinas
    • Copper colorants in glasses and glazes
  • Tenorite
    • Tenorite formation
  • Spertiniite
  • Conservation Issues
• CHAPTER 3: BASIC COPPER CARBONATES
  • Malachite
    • Decorative uses of malachite
    • Malachite as a copper ore
    • Nomenclature confusion
    • Mineral properties
    • Malachite as a pigment
    • Malachite in bronze patinas
    • Isotope ratios to determine corrosion environment
  • Azurite
    • Azurite as a corrosion product
    • Azurite as a pigment
    • Conservation issues for azurite
  • Formation of Copper Carbonates in Solution
  • Decomposition of Malachite and Azurite by Heat
  • Artificial Malachite and Azurite
  • Blue and Green Verditer
    • Use of blue and green verditer in art
    • Synthesis of blue and green verditer
  • Mixed-Cation Copper Carbonates
    • Mixed copper-zinc carbonates in corrosion
    • Synthetic pigments with copper and zinc salts
  • Chalconatronite: A Sodium-Copper Carbonate
    • Synthesis and use of chalconatronite
    • Chalconatronite as a corrosion product
• CHAPTER 4: CHLORIDES AND BASIC CHLORIDES
  • The Copper Chlorides
    • Nantokite
    • Atacamite
    • Paratacamite (anakarite) and clinoatacamite
    • Botallackite
  • Copper Chlorides and Bronze Disease
    • Bronze disease research
    • Role of chloride ions in corrosion
    • Pitting corrosion
  • The Basic Copper Chlorides as Pigments
    • Synthetic pigments
    • Pigment morphology
  • Other Basic Copper Chlorides
    • Connellite
    • Calumetite
    • Anthonyite
    • Cumengite and mixed copper-lead chlorides
    • Mixed copper-zinc chlorides
    • Other mixed-cation copper chlorides
• CHAPTER 5: BASIC SULFATES
  • Historical References to Copper Sulfates
  • The Basic Copper Sulfates
    • Brochantite and anderite
    • Posnjakite
    • Other basic sulfates
  • Environment and Corrosion
    • Atmospheric sulfur dioxide
    • Microenvironment and corrosion
  • Case Studies of Exposed Bronzes
    • The Statue of Liberty
    • The Great Buddha at Kamakura
    • Gettysburg National Military Park bronzes
    • Brancusi’s Infinite Column
  • Sulfate Deposition in Burial Environments
  • Basic Sulfates as Pigments
• PLATES
• CHAPTER 6: COPPER SULFIDES
  • The Chemistry of Copper Sulfides
  • Corrosion Environments and Copper Sulfide
    • Production
    • Sulfide formation in reducing environments
    • Sulfide formation from atmospheric exposure
    • Sulfide formation from pollution in the museum environment
  • Copper Sulfides and Niello
    • Niello recipes
    • Artifacts decorated with niello
    • Niello chemistry
• CHAPTER 7: COPPER PHOSPHATES AND COPPER NITRATES
  • The Copper Phosphates
    • Copper phosphate chemistry
    • Copper phosphate corrosion in different environments
    • Sampleite and the arid environment
    • Pseudomalachite: A copper phosphate pigment
  • Turquoise
    • The chemistry and mineralogy of turquoise
    • The history of turquoise
  • The Copper Nitrate Minerals
    • Copper nitrate corrosion products
• CHAPTER 8: COPPER SILICATES
  • Chrysocolla Chrysocolla as a pigment
  • Dioptase
  • Copper Silicates and Glasses
  • Egyptian Blue and Other Synthetic Copper Silicates
    • Geographic distribution of Egyptian blue
    • Lost and found secrets of Egyptian blue
    • Chemical formulation of Egyptian blue
    • Egyptian green
    • Terminology
    • Pigment deterioration mystery
  • Han Blue and Han Purple: Synthetic Pigments from China
• CHAPTER 9: THE ORGANIC SALTS OF COPPER
  • The Copper Formates
  • The Copper Acetates
    • The chemistry of verdigris
    • The history of verdigris
  • Early Verdigris Recipes
    • Recipes from Pliny the Elder
    • Variants of verdigris
    • Problems with verdigris
  • The Copper Résinâtes
    • The chemistry of copper résinâtes
    • Copper salts of higher acids
    • Copper proteinates
  • Organic Salts of Copper and Bronze Corrosion
    • Corrosion problems in the museum environment
  • Conservation Treatments
    • Treatment residues and the formation of copper salts
  • Copper Salts as Pigments
    • Green copper pigments
    • Brown copper pigments
    • Copper phthalocyanine
• CHAPTER 10: COPPER AS A SUBSTRATE FOR PAINTINGS
  • Early Coatings and Fabrication Methods
    • Analytical techniques
  • Enamel on Copper
• CHAPTER 11: SOME ASPECTS OF BRONZE PATINAS
  • Changing Views of Bronze Patinas
  • Some Patina Variations
    • Arsenic coating as a patina
    • Lead and patinas
    • Black patina in the aqueous environment
  • Patinas in the Renaissance
    • Other coatings on Renaissance bronzes
    • Unraveling an object’s patination history
  • Patination during the Nineteenth Century
  • Two Detailed Studies of Patina and Corrosion
    • Roman bronzes
    • Chinese bronze mirrors
  • Some Finishes and Preserved Structures
    • Traditional finishes on scientific instruments
    • Tool marks preserved in patinas
• CHAPTER 12: CONSERVATION TREATMENTS FOR BRONZE OBJECTS
  • Understanding Treatment Histories
  • Some Past Conservation Treatments
    • Patina-stripping techniques
    • Drying and sealing methods
    • Other early treatment methods
    • Preservation without treatment
  • Mechanical Cleaning
    • Preserving evidence of the past
    • Mechanical cleaning techniques today
    • Unanswered questions
  • Chemical Cleaning Treatments
    • General treatments
    • Localized chemical treatments
    • Cleaning reagents
  • Cleaning Marine Finds
    • Stabilization problems and techniques
  • Repatination of Cleaned Surfaces
    • Outdoor bronzes
    • An “indoor” bronze outdoors
  • The Use of Corrosion Inhibitors
    • Benzotriazole
    • AMT as a corrosion inhibitor
  • Coatings for Copper Alloys
    • Shellacs and lacquers
    • Resin coatings
    • Incralac
    • Ormocer and other polymer coatings
    • Problems with coatings
    • Need for research
  • Passive Stabilization
  • Nondestructive Testing
    • Radiographic examination
    • Ultrasonic scanning
    • Infrared imaging
    • Acoustic emission analysis
    • Other techniques
• APPENDIX A: Some Aspects of the Chemistry of Copper and Bronze
• APPENDIX Β: Recipes
• APPENDIX C: Some Copper Minerals and Corrosion Products
• APPENDIX D: X-Ray Diffraction Studies
• REFERENCES
• NAME INDEX
• SUBJECT INDEX
• ILLUSTRATION CREDITS
• ABOUT THE AUTHOR

David A. Scott was senior scientist at the Getty Conservation Institute and head of the GCI Museum Research Laboratory. His publications include Ancient and Historic Metals, Metallography and Microstructure of Ancient and Historic Metals, and more than sixty published papers in conservation and scientific journals.