COMPREHENSIVE RESEARCH ON A GROUP OF IRANIAN ARTISTIC METAL OBJECTS FROM THE 13TH–14TH CENTURIES FROM THE KHANENKO MUSEUM COLLECTION
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32782/uad.2025.6.2Keywords:
expertise, Islamic art, toreutics, metalwork, stylistic typology, optical microscopy, X-ray fluorescence analysis, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, decorative arts, artistic heritageAbstract
The aim of the study is to refine the dating of five objects of Iranian artistic metalwork from the 13th–14th centuries from the collection of the Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko National Museum of Arts, based on determining their elemental composition, inlay materials, and identifying the stylistic features of their decoration. The methodology of the article consists in the use of comparative-analytical and technological-chronological approaches, which included both theoretical and empirical methods, in particular stylistic analysis, optical microscopy, X-ray fluorescence analysis, and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. The technical and technological examinations of the Islamic toreutics objects from the Khanenko Museum collection were carried out in 2020 by specialists of the ART-LAB Scientific and Technical Expertise Bureau and the Department of Scientific Restoration and Conservation of the National Kyiv-Pechersk Historical and Cultural Reserve (Kyiv). Their conclusions are based on a comparison of the information obtained with published data from similar studies of Iranian artistic metalwork from the collections of the British Museum (London) and the Smithsonian Institution/Freer Gallery of Art (Washington). The stylistic description and typological analysis were carried out by Hanna Rudyk, a researcher at the Khanenko Museum, based on a visual review and comparison of the museum’s five objects with a wide range of published analogies from the collections of foreign museums in terms of decoration and manufacturing/decoration techniques. This work represents the first comprehensive study of Iranian engraved and inlaid metalwork from the Khanenko Museum collection, aimed at clarifying the attribution (dating) of five Iranian metal objects from the 13th–14th centuries by establishing their elemental composition in correlation with the typological analysis of their decorative programs. A stylistic and typological analysis of the Islamic toreutics (artistic metalwork) was conducted, establishing for the first time the elemental composition of copper alloys and inlays of gold, silver, and black organic material (bitumen with resin), the research data was compared with published technical and technological data on similar exhibits from other museum collections, confirming the reliability of dating of Iranian artworks from the Khanenko Museum collection to the 13th–14th centuries. The information obtained is important for art historians and restorers and can be used for further research and preservation of Islamic toreutics.
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