Metal oxidation usually = darker
Re: NOT SAME POST AS ABOVE: FADED QING ENAMEL BEADS? -- jrj Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: beadiste Post Reply
11/15/2017, 09:55:34

Enamels are glass. The metallic colorants are usually a minor percentage of the composition. Lighter enamels, I am guessing, started out lighter - possibly because of a smaller percentage of colorant in the glass, possibly because they were applied more thinly, possibly because they were applied over bright silver instead of darker copper. But age-related oxidation? Seems unlikely.

IIRC, lead is a large component of these enamels, just as it is in similarly-colored pottery glazes and enamels. None of these other lead glasses lighten with age.

Do you have a source for "enamel colors can oxidize and become lighter over time"?



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