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Can anyone help me identify the techniques used to color the bronze in this horse.
I would love to know the history of this horse. When it was made and who made it. Notice the small stone chips in the eyes and the green areas. Thanks..

Various chemical treatments could produce some, but hard to control. Could be thin oil paint, polished then overall lacquer coat.

IMHO modern, somewhat Tang-dynasty style horse with decoration resembling some Warring States period design, made for trinket / curio / decorator / tourist trade.

Good luck,
Cal

Definitley not paint. The color is in the bronze. No coatings used. Not trinket either. Made of heavy bronze with patterns of brass or gold wire in various shapes.

Here are some more pictures. I meant to add that the horse was made in China and I assume in the last 200 years. The corrosion is seems like it might be artifically induced, but I am really not sure.

Hi Rick,

Your horse has received the full treatment: chemicals/acid, paint and laquer.
Unfortunately,no natural forms of corosion to be seen.

The brown/red color is supposed to be the first natural form of corosion on bronze, which is CUPRITE.
However here the color is not as it should be and , apart of the mixture of styles, it is a give away of your piece being a modern repro.

The green color is supposed to be Malachite,and the blue color is an attempt to represent Azurite.


It is a mixture of Tang style with the copper inlaid looking like the 3 last BC dynasties style.(Warring states, Spring Autumn, Han.)

No doubt a recent modern piece.

Best regards,
Pierre.

Thank You Pierre, I have no doubt that it is a modern piece in that it is not from the early periods for sure. but I was curious about it because it does not seem to be an attempt to pretend to be an old piece, but a more of a replica of dfferent periods done in modern medium. I have an elephant and a Han style flying horse that I will post that are obviously done in the same way. They do not appear to be an attempt to decieve because they are so obviously made in a new way for there own art while paying tribute to the earlier pieces. But who did it and why? There may be many pieces like this, but they were not mass produced so why, who and how old. My guess is the late 19th or eary 20th century, but really not sure.

Hi Rick,

Who did these, sorry,I have no idea.

Why?
To my opinion they did try to reproduce the natural colors of corosion on bronze which are:
1- ox blood color for cuprite
2- green for malachite
3- blue for azurite

But it is a poor attempt, and clearely visible for those who know a little about the bronze corosion forms.

A novice could believe eventualy that these are real old pieces.
I'm glad you didn't fall in the trap but I'm sure some did or will.

I do not see any other reason why they did this unless they tried to deceive.

Have a nice day,
Pierre.

The Han Dynasty Bronze Galloping Horse was unearthed in 1969 in the Leitai Tomb of the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220) in Wuwei County, Gansu Province.It is now kept in the museum in CHina.

Therefor your bronze galloping horse cannot be made earlier than this period.As China was in a social upheaval during this period,I doubt there are any fakes made.Only after the opening of China,replica were made or what we call fakes.As the three items were made in the same style,I would say they were most probably manufactured in the last 20 years at most and cannot be over 200 years.

Daryl

No doubting that Cal and Pierre are correct on their opinions of this horse.

And Rick was right to about it being made in the last 200 years, more specifically, probably the last five years of the last 200 years.

It is a bit over-endowed with the inlays and the blotches and splotches. If at any point you thought it was old, why did the shiny inlays not send up a red flag?

Man, I hope no one tried to tell you this was an old piece!

Without the inlays, it would have been more attractive, but it will look OK up on a fireplace mantle.

Happy Hunting
Gman

Hi, the bronze horse posted by Rick above is a copy of a very famous Han dynasty piece which was excavated in Gansu province in 1969.

As all these pieces shown seem to be of the same period I think none are older than 1980.

Too bad.

Phil.

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