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An Organic Colorant used in Painted Ancient Maya Architectural Sculpture at Nakbe, Peten, Guatemala

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 February 2011

Eric F. Hansen ,
Arie Wallert  and
Michele Derrick
Eric F. Hansen
Affiliation:
The Getty Conservation Institute, 1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 700, Los Angeles, CA 90049–1684, ehansen@getty.edu
Arie Wallert
Affiliation:
The Getty Conservation Institute, 1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 700, Los Angeles, CA 90049–1684, ehansen@getty.edu
Michele Derrick
Affiliation:
The Getty Conservation Institute, 1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 700, Los Angeles, CA 90049–1684, ehansen@getty.edu
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Abstract

The ancient Lowland Maya are generally considered to have used a limited number of inorganic colorants in their polychrome reliefs due to the lack or inaccessibility of mineral resources, especially during the Late Preclassic period (300 B.C. – 300 A.D.). A notable exception is the manufacture of a blue pigment from indigo and specific types of clay, known as Maya blue, from the Classic Period (300 – 900 A.D.) through Colonial times. Another exception is a recently analyzed cream (or reddish-yellow) colored paint found on exceptionally large architectural polychrome stuccoed sculpture dating to the early Late Preclassic at the site of Nakbe, Petén, Guatemala. The cream paint layer exhibits a dramatic peach-colored fluorescence upon exposure to ultraviolet light. An organic material, extracted with organic solvents from the acid hydrolyzed lime-based plaster surface, was characterized by means of visible light microspectroscopy, FT-IR microspectroscopy and three-dimensional fluorescence spectroscopy. Analysis of the spectra obtained from the cream colorant and comparison with spectra of reference organic materials suggests that anthraquinone derivatives may be responsible for the color, and that these compounds are similar to some of those present in organic red dyes. The cream paint was applied as a single layer with good hiding power overlying the stucco ground. The cream paint is of the same thickness (averaging 15 microns) as the only other paint present on the sculpture, a red paint pigmented with red iron oxide. The presence of organic colorants on exposed architectural features raises particular preservation problems in relation to the increased possibility and rate of deterioration due to environmental exposure of this type of organic colorant in comparison with most inorganic colorants.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 462: Symposium DD – Materials Issues in Art and Archaeology V , 1996 , 287
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1997

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References

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