Chapter 1831: Buried for a long time, extremely restored
The value of bronzes that have been restored to a new look through complex restoration methods will undoubtedly be greatly enhanced.
From a museum's perspective, only perfectly restored bronzes are more valuable for display, appreciation and research.
These experts are like the lonely masters in martial arts, possessing unique skills but calm minds, quietly hiding in the world.
After repairing a bronze vessel, they often have a short-term sense of accomplishment and joy.
But as the work was taken away for display, and when I sat in front of a dusty bronze vessel again, I felt a huge sense of loss and exhaustion.
Focus has long been a professional. Anyone who has been with bronzes for 37 years can gain something, right?
Just like Chen Wenzhe, he has gained thirty-seven years of experience from others. Now, when he takes a piece of bronze and glances at it from a distance, he can tell whether it is genuine or fake.
Behind the simple words is the profound vision and skill, and the blending of people and cultural relics is natural.
This is already a master-level skill that can be obtained naturally without cheating.
Of course, these are some of the restoration techniques of the Dahai City and Beijing schools. This time in this antique bronze museum, what Chen Wenzhe saw were the techniques of the Southern School.
Especially in the repair of bronze mirrors, Chen Wenzhe has increased the breadth of his technology.
Because he saw the top restoration skills on one of the antique bronze mirrors.
And this imitation broken bronze mirror is still a familiar thing, because Chen Wenzhe knew that his treasure should be hidden in the Yangluo Museum.
In 1998, when the Yangluo Museum was preparing for the "Yangluo Cultural Relics Essence Exhibition", the municipal cultural relics team transferred a batch of bronze mirrors.
Among them is a bronze mirror inlaid with gold pediment pattern from the Warring States Period. Its shape and decoration are extremely rare in the local area and are of great appreciation and research value.
However, due to being buried for a long time, the mirror was broken into 51 pieces when it was unearthed.
The largest fragment is 10 cm long and 5 cm wide.
The smallest fragment is only 1 cm long.
Due to severe damage, this mirror can no longer be displayed normally, which has also seriously affected its research and storage work.
In order to reproduce its shape truly and completely, it must be completely restored, so as to fully reflect its value and truly reflect its extraordinary artistic charm.
To restore a precious cultural relic, we must first carefully analyze and study its fragments, and make a comprehensive judgment based on the actual situation.
Based on the judgment results, a detailed repair plan is formulated.
The restoration plan should try to take into account the situations that will occur at every step in the restoration process of cultural relics.
The method adopted must be effective and reliable, and must not have any negative impact on the cultural relics.
It is even more forbidden to use cultural relics as experimental objects to try methods that are not completely safe.
The restoration of this bronze mirror must be based on its own technical level, its broken condition, and the current status of the fragments, and must respect objective facts.
Only in this way can the cultural relics be successfully restored under an absolutely safe restoration plan.
Before restoring cultural relics, the first thing to do is to clean the stains on the surface.
Of the 51 remaining fragments of this bronze mirror, most are covered with rust.
Moreover, the copper was damaged, the mineralization was severe, and the surface was covered with deep cracks.
If improper handling methods are used, the fragments are in danger of breaking again.
So, be extra careful when handling.
When cleaning, first use absorbent cotton dipped in 95% ethanol to continuously soak the rusty parts.
After it is loose, gently remove it with a scalpel, and finally wipe it clean with a wet cotton ball.
Treat each piece of debris in this way, and during processing, carefully observe whether each piece of debris is infected with powdery rust.
Powdered rust is called the "terminal disease" of bronzes. It is the product of chloride in bronzes, which continuously produces corrosion in a certain humidity environment.
After being infected by it, the corrosion areas of bronze vessels will continue to expand and deepen until the entire vessel is perforated, rotted, and finally disintegrated.
It appears as light green loose and expanded powder on the surface of the bronze.
After careful observation, fortunately, no signs of infection were found on the lens, and the next step of repair can be carried out.
After cleaning and inspecting the fragments, it is necessary to put them together initially.
Based on the consistency of the fractures and the patterns on the surface of the bronze mirror, after careful docking on the operating platform, it was discovered that six of the fragments did not belong to this mirror.
And these six fragments pieced together a quarter of the outline of another bronze mirror.
After careful verification, the six fragments were separated and processed separately.
After the remaining 45 fragments of the confirmed mirror are put together, its preliminary characteristics will become apparent.
About one-third of the mirror body is missing, and it is made into a round shape, a round button, and a round button base.
The outside of the pedestal is decorated with the word "山" on four sides. The inside and outside of the "山" character are decorated with 20 material beads, 4 of which are inlaid with gold foil.
After you have mastered its preliminary shape, you need to carefully draw its appearance.
The scale of the drawing is 1:1, so that the decoration of the missing piece can be correctly inferred based on the remaining decoration, and the exact position of each fragment can be confirmed.
Accordingly, it can be joined.
There are generally two methods used to join mirrors.
One is the welding method, which is the solder we usually use now;
The other method is the adhesive method, which uses adhesive to bond the cross-sections.
After comprehensive consideration when determining the repair plan, the adhesive method was chosen.
Because if welding is used, with so many cross-sections and the rotten copper of the mirror, poor welding may damage the mirror body.
And it is also difficult to achieve very satisfactory welding strength;
If you use adhesive and use appropriate filling materials to repair the lens body, and fill and reinforce surface cracks, you can not only ensure the bonding quality, but also greatly increase the firmness of the lens body.
What's more important is that the bonding method is simple and reliable. If the materials are properly selected, the long-term shape can be ensured.
After the gluing method is established, it is very important to choose which adhesive to use to join these fragments so that a satisfactory bonding strength can be achieved after joining so that the mirror can be preserved for a long time.
After comprehensive review of various adhesives, the epoxy adhesive and "502" glue produced in Guangdong Province were finally selected for bonding.
The epoxy adhesive is packed in a two-component tube and is evenly mixed during use, curing after six hours.
It is characterized by easy and strong bonding. In recent years, this kind of adhesive has been used on a variety of small cultural relics, and the bonding effect and strength are particularly outstanding.
"502" glue is a type of cyanoacrylate adhesive among acrylic adhesives.
It has the characteristics of rapid bonding, easy shaping, and good permeability. It is suitable for the rapid bonding of small fragments. It is also the most commonly used and most convenient one in the restoration of cultural relics.
When bonding, first place each fragment on the operating platform and place it roughly according to its orientation. Note that you must accurately grasp the specific conditions of each bonding surface when bonding.