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Irogane Alloys and Niiro Patination

This research into Japanese irogane alloys and niiro solution patination techniques presents new information on their composition and reliable production. It was funded by an AHRC Fellowship in the Creative and Performing arts (AH/E005497/1), two AHRC research grants (AH/F012101/0 and AH/H020624/1), and a grant from the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation.

Niiro (boiling colour) refers to the hot copper salts solution used to develop patina on the irogane (coloured metal) alloys. The research was initiated by O’Dubhghaill following a six-year period studying in Japan with traditional metalworkers, and the realisation that the specialist patination experts there also found the process difficult to control. A systematic method of testing, analysing, and recording the traditional materials and methods was undertaken to quantify alloy and niiro compositions, conditions of immersion, and colours produced. Collaboration with material scientist, A. H. Jones, enabled controlled alloy production and a synthetic niiro solution, using standard laboratory-grade chemicals, to be developed. These were successfully tested and shown to produce colours comparable with traditional solutions in a consistent manner, eliminating uncertainty in the process and allowing better production control.

This material and process research is presented here as physical test samples supported by related published papers. Japanese Irogane Alloys and Patination - A Study of Production and Applications (2009) and Reliable Irogane Alloys and Niiro Patination—Further Study of Production and Application to Jewellery (2010); were presented at the 2009 and 2010 SantaFe Symposium on Jewellery Manufacture Technology. Related articles were published in the 'MJSA Journal' (2010) and 'The Goldsmiths Company Technical Bulletin' (2010), and presented at the Association for Contemporary Jewellery’s conference ‘Crossings’ (2010). Guest Lectures include Tokyo University of the Arts, Tokyo (2010),Tama Art University, Japan (2010) and the National College of Art and Design, Dublin (2010).