FÖRUNDERSÖKNING AV EN EGYPTISK POLYKROM KISTA Dokumentation, tillståndsbeskrivning och analys

Abstract

On ancient Egyptian polychrome art and mainly on coffins, it was normal practice to apply a thick ground and gesso before painting the wood. Sometimes varnish was also applied. Due to fluctuating levels of relative humidity and temperature, the wood swells and shrinks, causing the layers on top of the wood to become damaged. This thesis is a case study which is centered around a coffin with these problems. The coffin is in the collections of Medelhavsmuseet in Stockholm at the time of writing. The thesis is mostly based on literature studies on the pigments, binders and varnished used by the ancient Egyptian from the time period that the coffin was made, which is c. 1077 – 667 BCE. The information gathered from the literature studies is then compared with the results from the material analysis done with X-ray fluorescence and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. The aim of this thesis is to be used as a basis for future consolidation of the painted surface of the coffin base.