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- An Analysis of Micro Scratches on Typical Southern Chinese Bronzes—A Case Study of Crawler-Pattern Nao and Chugong Ge
| Jounal : | Explorations in the History of Machines and Mechanisms，Springer，ISSN/ISBN：1875-3442 |
| Author : | Lie？Sun 关晓武、吴世磊 |
| YEAR : | 2016 |
| Vol. : | |
| No. : | 1 |
| Page : | 245-259 |
| Abstract : | Based on the investigation of typical southern Chinese bronze, the authors develop a method to analyze the manufacturing processes and using technique of ancient metallic wares. The Clay mold casting was one of the most important mechanical technologies in the Bronze Age of China, when the majority of bronzes were produced. The style and foundry techniques of bronzes found in southern China (about 1,600 BC–200 BC) are different from those of Shang dynasty (1,600 BC–1,046 BC). Thirty typical items were selected from hundreds of southern Chinese bronzes of the Hunan Provincial Museum (“HPM”), and analyzed with the stereoscopic microscope (“SM”) via the “low-power magnification method” (20×–200×). Seven types of causes of micro scratches are observed as follows: molding, casting, dressing, use wear, surface intervention, rust and unidentified causes. Previously, the micro scratch analysis was seldom used in technological analysis of bronzes. For this paper, we collected clay mold assembly and separation information by using this method, more precisely distinguished the direct mold casting patterns from reversed mold casting patterns, and thus provided a more profound and detailed understanding of bronze foundry techniques. |