ARCHAEOMETRICAL STUDY OF A RARE EMBROIDERED AND APPLIQUED LEATHER TAPESTRY FROM THE SAFAVID ARTWORKS. PART II: COLORED LEATHER

Abstract

The present study focuses on the investigation and analytical techniques used to study a rare Iranian leather tapestry dates to the 16th-17th century. This study is a complementary part of an earlier one on the fibers and dyes of the same object. Both parts concern a pioneered archaeomatrical study for such rare types of embroidered and appliqued leather tapestries. The present study reveals the type(s) of leather, tannins, pigments, and media used in the object, and the deterioration forms as well. The study used the SM, SEMEDX, MA-XRF, ATR-FTIR, and MALDI-TOF MS. The obtained results revealed that the object is composed of; a textile substrate, a blank beige goatskin layer upon the textile substrate, a blackish goatskin layer colored with iron oxide and bone black in Arabic gum, white cattle leather patterns colored with calcium carbonates in Arabic gum and appliqued upon the blackish layer, the whole object is fixed and ornamented using dyed embroidery threads. Mimosa and alum were revealed as tanning materials for the leathers. The object suffers from many deterioration forms, namely dust and soiling matters, cracks, macro-cracks, drying, brittleness, shrinkage, lost parts, stains, and erosion of colored surfaces.