Through the Lens: Examining Colorful Objects from Karanis
The ancient world was a colorful place. From household furnishings to decorations,
objects of daily life were painted or dyed a variety of colors.
All three figurines featured in this Kelsey in Focus exhibition come from houses at Karanis, Egypt: a dog, the god Harpocrates, and the goddess Isis-Aphrodite. Figurines like these could have had many uses, including as religious objects, knickknacks, or toys.
The figurines show a range of color preservation. At first glance, the only color visible on the dog is white pigment from the paint preparation layer. However, a handheld microscope reveals an unexpected array of hues: red pigment inside the dog’s ears and on its paws; yellow on its tail, back, outer ears, and collar; and pink on its face, chest, stomach, and legs.
With only small areas of pigment remaining, reconstructing what the dog would have originally looked like called for some creativity. A 3D model of the dog was captured, and two copies were printed. Both were painted with the colors revealed under the microscope, but two different artists painted these reconstructions, and—as you can see—they look quite different. While the microscope can help us see preserved pigment, painting techniques and shading remain more difficult to figure out.
Multispectral imaging (MSI) can help determine which pigments were used on ancient objects. This photographic technique uses filters to capture images at different wavelengths of light. MSI reveals a great deal of color on Harpocrates: red and yellow (natural ochre pigments), blue (Egyptian blue), black (carbon black), and pink (created using rose madder pink in one area and a mixture of red ochre and white in another).
The pink on Isis-Aphrodite is also rose madder, but the purple of her dress is interesting because it is not really purple at all. Rather, the color was created using a mixture of rose madder pink and what is likely a carbon-based black pigment.
Using both a microscope and MSI, imperceptible colors become visible and the pigments used to create them can be identified. While the original polychromy on many objects has been lost, these techniques can help recapture what they looked like thousands of years ago.
—Laurel Fricker, IPAMAA PhD Candidate
Techniques for Color Research
Two main techniques formed the basis of the research into the colors and pigments on the dog (KM 6909), the god Harpocrates (KM 6449), and the goddess Isis-Aphrodite (KM 6488): a digital handheld microscope and multispectral imaging.
- A digital handheld microscope aided in examining areas where only a small amount of pigment was preserved, like on the dog. This technique allows us to view the surface of an object at high magnification.
- Multispectral imaging (MSI) is a photographic technique that uses light sources of different wavelengths to capture the characteristic absorption, reflection, and luminescence of light from pigments on objects. MSI can reveal locations of pigment no longer observable with visible light and indicate which pigments were used to create the color. Four imaging techniques proved to be the most illuminating:
- Visible light (VIS): VIS imaging captures the colors that we can see with our eyes. Images from this technique provide a comparison for the other MSI techniques.
- Ultraviolet-induced visible luminescence (UVL): Using this type of MSI, a pink pigment called rose madder fluoresces orange-pink.
- Infrared reflectance false color (IRRFC): This technique can reveal the presence of the pigments red ochre (which appears brownish-yellow) and yellow ochre (which appears greenish-yellow).
- Visible-induced infrared luminescence (VIL): With VIL imaging, bright white luminescence indicates the use of Egyptian blue pigment.
Dive Deeper
Interested in learning more about the study of color in the ancient Mediterranean? The 2019 exhibition Ancient Color explored the sources, uses, and meanings of color in the Roman world, while the Kelsey conservators’ Investigating Color in Roman Egypt project provides tools that students, faculty, and researchers can use to study color in their own archaeological collections.
