Teknisk analys av konst på papper -Exemplifierad genom undersökning av träsnitt

Abstract

The aim of this bachelor thesis has been to investigate some of the materials present in and on printed papers which might be suitable for analysis. A brief history of paper making and some pigments were studied after which the theory of some of the available methods for technical analysis were summarized. Two works of art on paper were chosen for a closer examination, both are woodblock prints but of different composition and origin. The investigation was made to exemplify some of the common techniques applied on works of art. There were two aims in these examinations. One was to extract sufficient information about the objects so that a decision about possible measures in conservation can be supported or avoided. The other aim was to try and extract enough useful information from the objects so that a determination of age and attribution either could be supported or rejected. The two most advanced analytical instruments used in the study were FTIR and SEM-EDX. An evaluation of the application of these for pigments and a specific dye on paper was made. The conclusion of this was that the lack of references for the comparison of results was one of the main limiting factors. Even though a definite result wasn't achieved, the study showed that one possibility to determine possible presence of the moisture sensitive dye dayflower blue (commelinin) was through examination with SEM-EDX. The way in which this was done with the equipment used was to determine the presence of the element magnesium. Further studies would include whether a non-destructive method of determining the presence of this dye could be performed using a XRF equipment.