Painting on Fibers

Abstract

In ancient Egypt, color expressed both symbolic and aesthetic value. For decorating purposes, the ancient Egyptians used an intensive chromatic palette based on a broad source of natural and artificial origins. Beside dyeing, decorating textiles in ancient Egypt had different forms, such as embroidery or the painting of a smooth coating applied on the textile matrix. Physical analytical approaches are an essential request prior any restoration project. In this chapter, the benefits of a wide range of non- or micro-destructive methods to study the physiochemical behavior of pigments used in ancient Egyptian painted textiles are presented. To garner data concerning the ancient materials, special techniques are used, such as the environmental scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (ESEM-EDX), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), micro-Raman spectroscopy (µ-Raman), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy-attenuated total reflection (FTIR-ATR), colorimetry, and visible reflectance spectroscopy (vis-RS).