Summary
Pre-Columbian smiths working in northern Peru gilded and silvered copper objects by electrochemical replacement techniques that deposited films of 0.5–2 μm onto copper sheet. Platings that seem to be identical have been produced in the laboratory using gold dissolved in aqueous solutions of NaCl + KNO3 + KAl(SO4)2 · 12H2O.
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References
H. Lechtman, “The Gilding of Metals in Pre-Columbian Peru,” p. 38–52 in Application of Science in Examination of Works of Art, W.J. Young, ed., Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Mass., 1973.
H. Lechtman, “Ancient Methods of Gilding Silver — Examples from the Old and the New Worlds,” p. 2–30 in Science and Archaeology, R.H. Brill, ed., M.I.T. Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1971.
Godfrey Smith, The Laboratory or School of Arts, London, 1720, p. 130.
F.A. Lowenheim, ed., Modern Electroplating (The Electrochemical Society Series), John Wiley, New York, N.Y., 1963.
For an excellent history of electrochemistry, see G. Dubpernell and J.H. Westbrook, eds., Selected Topics in the History of Electrochemistry, The Electrochemical Society, Princeton, 1978.
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Lechtman, H. A Pre-Columbian Technique for Electrochemical Replacement Plating of Gold and Silver on Copper Objects. JOM 31, 154–160 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03354479
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03354479