Corrosion and Protection of a Begonia Style Hand Stove of Enamel Flowers and Consecration of Birds and Animals

The types of rust and the corrosion mechanism on the surface of the cover of a hand furnace collected in the Palace Museum's painting of enamel flowers and consecration of birds and animals were analyzed using portable microscopy, laser confocal microscopy, X-ray fluorescence spectrometer (XRF), micro-X-ray diffraction analysis (μ-XRD) and laser Raman spectroscopy analysis methods. The results showed the main component of the base of the hand furnace cover was copper-zinc alloy, and the “gold amalgam” method was used for surface gilt decoration; the rust on the hand stove cover is in powder form, and the rust products were mainly paratacamite and botallackite. Potentially harmful rust was removed by a combination of physical and chemical methods, and the utensil substrate was sealed. It is to avoid using chlorine-containing water sources and detergents with obvious acidity and alkalinity for daily dust removal and maintenance of utensils.