Iron and Steel in Art

This volume offers a comprehensive exploration of iron compounds, their roles in human history, natural processes, and conservation. Covering topics from the corrosion of underwater artefacts and the preservation of iron objects to the use of iron-based pigments in medieval art, it also delves into scientific phenomena such as the presence of jarosite on Mars and iron pyrites in undersea vents. With detailed case studies and a critical review of conservation methods, this book is an essential reference for anyone studying or caring for iron artefacts.

This book will be of interest to all who seek to further their understanding of iron artefacts, their corrosion, conservation and pigments based on iron compounds, which mankind has used for millennia. The authors take the reader through some of the latest observations on the occurrence and role of compounds of iron – from the hot water undersea vents where the presence of iron pyrites is thought to be vital to the emergence of life on Earth to the discovery of jarosite on the surface of Mars, possibly indicating the occurrence of water; from the pyrophoric surprises one can have when dealing with iron artefacts taken from beneath the sea to the use of a blue oxide of iron as a pigment in mediaeval wall paintings; from rusticles on the Titanic to the analysis of colouring matter on the Turin shroud. The great variety of iron compounds is examined (from the simple oxides to the exotic green rusts, from Prussian blue to yellow jarosites), the corrosion of iron in different environments is discussed and a critical review of the many attempts to conserve iron is presented. This volume will serve as a useful textbook on the subject for many years.

Foreword by Ian Donald MacLeod

Preface

Acknowledgements

Iron and steel: an introduction

Extraction of iron

Alloying elements

Constituents of iron and steels

Constituents of cast iron

Iron and iron alloys

Early steel

Damascening and pattern welding

Making cast iron

Iron dowels in structures and buildings

Making iron plate

Patination, coloration and surface finish of iron

Iron oxides and hydroxides

Goethite

Lepidocrocite

Akaganeite and schwertmannite

Feroxyhyte

Ferrihydrite

Bernalite

Haematite

Oxide-coated pottery

Magnetite

Maghemite

Wustite

Use of ilmenite

Use of iron zinc oxide

Occurrence of iron oxides in blackened stone crusts

An introduction to Potential-pH diagrams

Iron carbonates

Iron chlorides

Ferrous and ferric chloride

Iron oxychloride

Green rusts

Green rust on cast iron

Ferrous hydroxychloride

Iron sulphides and sulphates

Origin of the iron sulphides

Chalcopyrite (CuFeS(2))

Pyrite disease

Iron sulphates

Jarosites

Iron arsenates

Iron phosphates

Vivianite

Phosphates as corrosion inhibitors

Iron silicates

Green earths

Aerinite

Iron slag constituents

Iron carboxylates and cyanides

Iron gall inks

Prussian blue

Iron salts in historic photographic processes: cyanotypes

Iron corrosion in the soil

Deterioration in the soil

Corrosion product determination in burial environments

Understanding the corrosion process

Sulphate-reducing bacteria

Degradation of wood and other organic materials

Petrification and replacement of organic material in burial environments

Iron corrosion in the atmosphere

Rate of atmospheric rusting

Modelling atmospheric corrosion

Atmospheric corrosion and sulphates

Atmospheric corrosion and chlorides

Other atmospheric corrosion factors

Effects of copper and other alloying elements

Corrosion of weathering steels

Detrioration of historic iron structures

The iron pillar of New Delhi

Iron corrosion in cement and concrete structures

Iron corrosion in freshwater and marine environments

Introduction to the conservation of iron objects

Morphological states

Surface appearance

Methods of protection

Conservation of iron from the soil

Historical and early conservation treatments

Early impregnation techniques

Examination techniques

Mechanical and chemical cleaning

Techniques based on reduction and heating

Techniques based on aqueous extraction

Measuring chloride ion concentration

Composite iron objects

Storage strategies

Conservation of exposed ironwork

Inorganic coatings for iron

Organic coatings for iron

Comparative studies of modern organic coatings

Restoration of the Statue of Liberty

Preservation of the SS Great Britain

Historic iron railings, fences and building components

Conservation of painted iron surfaces

Corrosion inhibitors

The behaviour of cast iron during a fire

Iron staining and associated deterioration

Conservation of iron from marine sites

Electrochemistry and electrolytic reduction

Iron and polyethylene glycol (PEG)

Reconstruction of the form of totally corroded iron objects

Submarines

On-site packing

In-situ monitoring

Conservation and decision-making

Assessing the efficacy of treatment

Glossary of some technical terms and descriptions

Bibliography

Index

• By (author) Gerhard Eggert
• By (author) David A. Scott

"...as a basic text for students and conservators who need to know about iron, this book is a valuable source of information. It contains all that you think you need to know about this fundamental archaeological material and a lot that you did not think you ought to know. It is to be thoroughly recommended." Studies in Conservation 57(3) (July 2012) 192 "...the authors have presented a state of the art report on iron and its compounds used in art...this book will be interesting for everybody...who want[s] to improve [their] understanding of iron and its artefacts, their corrosion, conservation and pigments based on iron compounds and all those [who] work with any kind of iron." Materials and Corrosion 61(2) (2010) 160 "...un texto imprescindible para consulta sobre cualquier aspecto del hierro y su conservacion." Ge-conservacion/conservacao 1 (2010) 264-265 "I am very glad to have read this book and it will fit nicely alongside Salaman's dictionaries and similar volumes. It is of similar textual quality and will not be out of place." Tools and Trades History Society (Autumn 2009) 27-29 "The publication is well produced with lots of diagrams and a number of excellent colour plates...[It] is an ideal reference book." Journal of the Institute of Conservation 33(2) (September 2010) 201-203
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I am very glad to have read this book and it will fit nicely alongside Salaman's dictionaries and similar volumes. It is of similar textual quality and will not be out of place.

—

The publication is well produced with lots of diagrams and a number of excellent colour plates...[It] is an ideal reference book.

—

...un texto imprescindible para consulta sobre cualquier aspecto del hierro y su conservación.

—

...the authors have presented a state of the art report on iron and its compounds used in art...this book will be interesting for everybody...who want[s] to improve [their] understanding of iron and its artefacts, their corrosion, conservation and pigments based on iron compounds and all those [who] work with any kind of iron.

—

...as a basic text for students and conservators who need to know about iron, this book is a valuable source of information. It contains all that you think you need to know about this fundamental archaeological material and a lot that you did not think you ought to know. It is to be thoroughly recommended.

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