Precise capture of colors in cultural heritage digitization

A workflow for the color reproduction of digital still images for the purpose of cultural heritage digitization is presented. An analysis was performed to determine the effect of RAW to TIFF transformation; RGB to CIE L*a*b* transformation; white balancing; use of standard color spaces: sRGB, AdobeRGB (1998), ProPhoto RGB, eciRGBv2; custom DCP, and ICC profiles assigning. For the analysis, Color Checker Classic and Digital Color Checker SG targets were used. The precision of the color reproduction was checked against FADGI and Metamorfoze standards. We demonstrate that to obtain high color fidelity reproduction, white balancing and a custom ICC profile are necessary, while DCP profiling could be omitted. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 42, 333–336, 2017     

Chemical characterization and origin of dyes used in the manufacture of Beninese cultural heritage objects

Six objects of Beninese cultural heritage provided by African and Confluences museums of Lyon (France) were the focus of this study. The characterization of colored compounds was achieved using: microchemical tests, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and liquid chromatography coupled to a photodiode array detector. The main results reflect the presence of organic compounds like indigotin, 2‐hydroxynaphthoquinone, and mineral ions such as Al³⁺, S^2?, Na⁺, and Fe³⁺. Dyes were identified from Philenoptera cyanescens (Yoruba indigo) and Lawsonia inermis L. (henna); pigments were identified as laundry blue, Prussian blue, and iron oxides. All of these data therefore make possible the conservation and the restoration of these objects while maintaining their visual and functional integrity.     

Analysis of color symbology from the perspective of cultural semiotics focused on Korean costume colors according to the cultural changes

The purpose of this study was to analyze the symbolization of colors as cultural codes, based on costume colors. In order to study the significance of colors in cultural changes, we carried out a quantitative analysis and interpreted it from the perspective of cultural semiotics. The range of this study was focused on Korean costume colors, over diverse diachronic stages of Korean culture. For this study 1535 color samples were collected, measured with a spectrophotometer, and analyzed quantitatively according their diachronic stages of origin. As a result, red, blue, and yellow were found to be the most frequently used colors during the Chosun Dynasty, a period based on Confucianism. These colors acted as cultural codes with cultural significance. During the Modern times pink, light blue, and black increased in frequency and represented the reception of western culture, the changing sex role of women in society, and utilitarianism. In these days, neutral colors and grayish tones of all colors are the most significant colors of high frequency. The use of such colors is closely related to industrialization, mechanization, functionalism, and the changes of women's sex roles in the societies. They are used as cultural codes, especially to emphasize a rational and masculine image rather than a feminine image. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 32, 71–79, 2007; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/col.20290     

Japanese and Korean ideas about clothing colors for elderly people: Intercountry and intergenerational differences

This study evaluated the clothing colors worn by elderly persons. We took photos, with elderly persons as models, displayed them on a computer screen, and used computer graphics to produce 75 colors of clothing worn by elderly persons. The 75 colors were evaluated by Japanese and Korean elderly women and female students. We compared the ideal colors and colors actually worn by elderly women in Japan and Korea. The ideal clothing color worn most often, and the images held concerning these colors, were found to differ between elderly women and female students in Japan and Korea, between Japanese and Korean elderly women, and between Japanese and Korean female students. In brief, the ideal clothing color for elderly women was the color satisfying brilliance, functionality, and elegance. We found that Japanese consumers prefer clothing of red hue or light grayish‐orange, whereas Korean consumers prefer colors of cold hues or achromatic colors. The differences observed between Japanese and Korean women seem to be associated with various factors, including traditions, culture, public morals, and racial consciousness. Differences in the rate of aging in the society and the timing of this change may also be involved. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 28, 139–150, 2003; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/col.10132     

Digital color reconstructions of cultural heritage using color‐managed imaging and small‐aperture spectrophotometry

There are many examples of cultural heritage having optical properties that have changed with the passage of time. Examples include the yellowing, darkening, and fading of paints and varnishes caused by light exposure and atmospheric pollution. When it is infeasible to treat an object, an image simulation can provide a view to the past, known as a color reconstruction. A technique is described that relies on a color‐managed image, spectral reflectance factor measurements of the object, an optical model of colorant mixing, an optical database of artist materials, spreadsheet software, and image editing software. Spectral calculations are used to create adjustment curves where segmented portions of an object's image are translated in color. This approach has been used to produce color reconstructions of paintings by Vincent van Gogh and Georges Seurat. This colorimetric translation methodology is described and an example shown for the Chicago version of Vincent van Gogh's Bedroom. The methodology is compared with pixel‐based processing.     

Color characteristics of costumes for Korean folk festivals and color consciousness of Koreans

The purpose of this study was to identify the color characteristics of Korean culture, the color consciousness of Korean people based on their arche‐pattern sentiment, and to analyze the colors of the costumes of Korean folk festivals, which clearly suggest the archetype of Korean tradition. The range of this study is focused on Korea's important intangible cultural assets in which the colors used in folk festivals were fully expressed, and 20 folk games and plays were selected from among different festival events. Hundred and fifteen pictures from these 20 folk games/plays were used to extract the costume colors and conduct color analyses. Among 647 colors extracted in total, this article used 199 colors after excluding overlapping colors. The results show that Korean folk festivals have served as the medium of nondifferentiation that goes beyond the differentiated order of reality. Costumes for these Korean folk festivals, such as folk games and folk plays, have a sacred meaning as ritualistic robes. Five element colors in these costumes for the Korean folk festival are used as a means of circulatory thinking and as a symbol of Chaos—the very origin of undifferentiated thinking—beyond one's daily lives. It was found that these highly chromatic five element colors have always been used, wherever this undifferentiated thinking was strongly expressed. Delivering visually strong impacts, these five element colors symbolize the concept of the Arche‐pattern theory, being related to infinite freedom without any restrictions. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 2010     

Identification of traditional Thai colours used for mural paintings and Khon masks

Thai colour names used for mural paintings and Khon masks are not well known, uncommonly used, and some are forgotten. They are normally known today only among few artists who inherited the knowledge to paint them from their elders. However, the artists cannot quantitatively describe the characteristics of these colours, and this is a major impediment in colour identification and preservation studies that are necessary for future restoration works of temples and artifacts. The purpose of this article is to describe our research for identifying and quantitatively describing traditional Thai colours, as part of our effort to create a “Thai Colour Name Dictionary.” In this article, we show information about colour names which have never been mentioned in any international journal until now, and we describe the method we used to identify them with physical colours. The method is exemplified on 10 colour names. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 38, 229–234, 2013.     

A water dispersed Titanium dioxide/poly(carbonate urethane) nanocomposite for protecting cultural heritage: Preparation and properties

A water dispersed Titanium dioxide/poly(carbonate urethane) nanocomposite was prepared by means of cold mixing of single components via sonication. The work was aimed at achieving a new material with properties suitable for eco-sustainable applications in cultural heritage as protective coating. The nanocomposite water dispersion prepared was subsequently deposited on Petri dish and, after water casting at room temperature, homogeneous, transparent, colourless film samples were obtained. TGA, DSC, DMTA, ATR-FTIR, FESEM and WAXS techniques were then applied in order to investigate the thermal and visco-elastic behaviours along with morphology and structure of the nanocomposite. Moreover, through methylorange decomposition, an azoic dye representative of environmental pollution, a photocatalytic test was set up on nanocomposite film samples assessing that the 1% (wt/wt) content of Titanium dioxide nanoparticles was able to confer self-cleaning ability. Interrelationships among structure, properties and uses in conservation of this kind of nanomaterial were appraised.