REFINEMENT OF RECONSTRUCTED COPPER GREEN IN VINEGAR

Introduction

This category concerns secondary processing of an already prepared copper-green pigment rather than the initial corrosion of metallic copper. The project’s V6 experiment dissolved/refined the product of the vinegar-vapour reconstruction (V1) in vinegar. The historical corpus contains a particularly clear named example in Majmūʿah al-Ṣanāyeʿ and related paper-dye procedures that use vinegar to dissolve or suspend previously formed zangār.

Historical Recipes

Principal Recipe(s) Most Directly Related to the Reconstruction

Recipe 1:  Anonymous

Source: Anonymous, Majmūʿah al-Ṣanāyeʿ, MS 3875, fol. 63r – zangār-e moṣaffā.

Original Persian recipe:

زنگار مصفّا : " در صنعت زنگار مصفّا که بلا مثال بود که بستانند زنگار خمصی جزوی و از سرکه سفید مقطر جزوی و بگذارند تا زنگار خمصی در سرکه مصعد حل شود و سرکه سبز گردد و پس آنرا صاف کنند و ثقل آنرا بیاندازند و آن زنگار مصفا در قرع کنند و بچکانند آنچه در ته قرع بماند زنگار مصفاست. یک درم از این زنگار بهتر از بیست درم زنگار دگر باشد و بسیار جاها کار آید بتخصیص در رنگ کردن فیروزه بلا نظیر است "

English translation:

For making zangār-e moṣaffā , which is unique, they take a small amount of zangār-e ḫamṣī  and add some distilled white vinegar till the zangār-e ḫamṣī dissolves in the vinegar and the vinegar becomes green. Then they filter it and pour it in a flask to precipitate. What remains at the bottom of the flask is zangār-e moṣaffā. One dram of this zangār is better than twenty drams of other kinds of zangār and it can be used in many places.  It is unique for its turquoise colouring.

This is the closest historical principle to the first pigment, but it is not an exact replication: the historical starting material is zangār-e ḫamṣī, whereas the project used the pigment produced in the first version.

Unlike the preceding categories, this method concerns secondary treatment of an already prepared green pigment. The closest historical parallel is zangār-e moṣaffā in Majmūʿah al-Ṣanāyeʿ, where zangār-e ḫamṣī is dissolved in distilled white vinegar, filtered, and further processed. The project experiment applies the same general principle of vinegar-based secondary refinement but begins with the product of the V1 reconstruction rather than historical ḫamṣī; it should therefore be described as a technological reconstruction rather than an exact replication.

Historical Note
The historical zangār-e moṣaffā recipe provides the closest technological principle for this reconstruction, but the two procedures do not begin with the same material. The historical recipe starts with zangār-e ḫamṣī, whereas the experimental reconstruction uses the copper-green pigment previously produced through vinegar-vapour exposure.

Comparative Analysis of the Historical Recipe
Unlike the preceding methods, which concern the initial production of a copper-green pigment, zangār-e moṣaffā represents the secondary processing of an already prepared zangār. The historical procedure dissolves zangār-e ḫamṣī in distilled white vinegar, followed by clarification, filtration, and recovery. The reconstruction undertaken in this project investigates this principle of vinegar-based secondary refinement while deliberately retaining a different experimental starting material.

Experimental Reconstruction
In this project, the copper-green pigment previously produced through vinegar-vapour exposure was subsequently treated with distilled white vinegar, clarified, filtered, recovered, dried, and ground. The experiment therefore reconstructs the historical principle of secondary refinement rather than reproducing the zangār-e moṣaffā recipe exactly.

Materials

·         Previously reconstructed copper-green pigment from V1

·         Distilled white vinegar

·         Glass or porcelain vessel

·         Filtration material

Method

The copper-green material produced in the V1 vinegar-vapour reconstruction was introduced into distilled white vinegar and allowed to dissolve or disperse. The mixture was then clarified and filtered to separate the refined green fraction from coarse or insoluble material. The recovered material was dried and ground. This follows the historical principle of secondary refinement, while the historical Moṣaffā recipe specifically begins with zangār-e ḫamṣī rather than the V1 product.